• 




rl 

1 

m H ■ 

H 







■ 

■ 



■ 

■ KB 



■ 



ImB Bra 




(ilass \ j \ .„■ 

Book »Y>5.5' 







Character y^ 

A MORAL TEXT -BOOK 



For the Use of Parents and Teachers in Training 
Youth in tl\e Principles of Conduct 



and 



AID TO SELF- CULTURE 



"For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous 
men have desired to see those things which you see/ and have not 
seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have 
not heard them." 



"We have come too late, by several thousand years, to say any- 
thing new in morality." 



JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 

HENRY' VARNUM 
AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 







THE LIBRARY OF 
CON^fttSS. 

Twc Copies Receivac 

APR n 1903 

^ Copyright Entry 

&Mr. I, if--!? c2> 
CLASS O- X)^c. No. 
S" 2) *) X O 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1903, by 
Henry Varnum 



S. F. Hall & Sons, Printers and Binders, Jacksonville, Fla. 
Linotype composition by The Tribune, Tampa, Fla. 



INTRODUCTION. 



I earnestly desire that any person who may read 
this book, the product of my idle hours and limited 
opportunities, will not hesitate to make me acquainted 
with their honest opinion and assist me to rectify such 
mistakes as it may contain. 

A friend once remarked to me that she could not 
send her children to a public school on account of those 
"factory children." Why should those factory children 
not be fit companions for any other children? It is 
because many parents, particularly of the laboring class, 
make no effort to give their children any sort of moral 
training. Even among the more educated classes some 
teach rigorously the principle of truth, but never think 
of honesty; some assiduously inculcate honesty, but fail 
to teach civility; and thus it happens that children fre- 
quently acquire a contempt for the morals of their 
comrades which are not taught them, and even come 
to look at their own parents' requirements as harsh and 
unreasonable, because other children's parents do not 
teach the same. 

It occurred to me that a text-book so arranged that 
universally accepted tenets of moral behavior could be 
used as we now use other school books, would be of 
great service to many parents, teachers and scholars 
themselves. The magnitude of the work appalled me, 
but I finally determined to make an effort to supply 
what, in my opinion, would contribute to a purer moral 
atmosphere, and save the youth of today from losing 
sight, while young, of the beacons which the eyes of age 
can hardly discern. My material has been gathered 
from such books as I have been able to obtain and read 
during my spare hours. I believe, however, that I have 
got the best thoughts of the best men that ever lived, 
though in a very haphazard way. 



vi Introduction 

All social laws are the accumulated result of the 
wisdom and experience of many generations, and I have 
attempted to give nothing in this volume that has not 
acquired universal approval. The object in no instance 
is originality, but plain practicality and usefulness, and 
most any parent or teacher, or the student himself, can 
find abundant argument to clothe the simple axioms 
with beauty and fascination. 

I have found a number of volumes purporting to 
give that instruction necessary to steer the ambitious 
youth on a virtuous and prosperous course across life's 
uncertain seas ; but in every instance these books (some 
beautifully and admirably compiled by tender and sym- 
pathetic hearts, some mediocre but honest, and some 
hasty and narrow), were the work of mature under- 
standing and appealed to trained intellects and dis- 
ciplined minds, and were inadequate to the work of 
youthful development. 

This is the first work, so far as I am advised, that 
attempts to fill the sphere of a moral text-book for use in 
training the youngest scholars as well as the more 
mature, and whatever short-comings it may have, if it 
lead to something better, though itself a failure, I shall 
consider my task well done. 



*¥* 



Introduction 



That man will be a benefactor of his race who shall teach 
us how to manage rightly the first years of a child's education. — 
James A. Garfield. 

Perhaps by and by some benefactor of his kind may estab- 
lish a college of manners, where youths and maidens shall be 
taught to honor their mothers and grandmothers, to consider 
their maiden aunts and decrepit poor relations, where lessons 
shall be given in the treatment of inferiors, where they shall 
receive diplomas and medals for gentle courtesy and beautiful 
behavior. — The Christian Register. 

The time will come when there will be institutions for deter- 
mining the natural bent of the boy or girl; where men of large 
experience and close observation will study the natural inclina- 
tion of the youth, help him to find where his greatest strength 
lies, and how to use it to the best advantage. — Orison Sweet 
Marden. 

An eager, intelligent child can learn so abstract and senseless 
a game as English spelling; not only learn it, but learn an undy- 
ing sense of pride in good spelling, shame at bad spelling, and 
scorn for those who cannot spell. How much more readily could 
the child be taught the concrete and practical science of conduct; 
learn the virtues of his day and generation, not only in glib and 
fluent recitation but in daily practice; and learn also and as 
easily the natural pride of one who stands well in his class, and 
the natural contempt for the booby in ethics. — Charlotte Perkins 
Stetson. 

Socrates believed in the unity of virtue and averred that it 
was teachable as a matter of science. He was of the opinion 
that the only valuable philosophy is that which teaches us our 
moral duties and religious hopes. — Anon. 

While it is impossible in a world made up of widely differing 
individuals, to formulate a set of rules by which each could be 
shown the surest and swiftest to secure success in life, still it 
is possible to call attention to certain qualities of mind and 
character whose possession has come to be universally looked 
upon as essential to those who may aspire to struggle into the 
front rank of the world's workers. — Anon. 

Who can estimate the influence of a* single boy or girl upon 
the character of a school? Any teacher will tell you that many 
a school has been pulled up grade, or run down by just such 
imperious characters. — Orison Sweet Marden. 

It is quite impossible for any mental chemist to say of what 
elements, and in what proportions, any given character is com- 
pounded; and a brief and serious consideration of these difficul- 
ties will, I think, lead anyone to understand that it is impossible 
at present to found a true science of character, or to make any 
ultimate analysis of it. — A. T. Schofield. 



ARRANGEMENT. 



The subjects in this book are arranged with the 
purpose of having" those come first which should be 
first taught the young child, and leaving the subjects 
which can be better understood by a maturer intellect 
for the latter part of the book. It is needless to say, 
that without the experience of teaching or studying, it 
is impossible to determine accurately the proper classi- 
fication of these subjects; but on the whole, I think, 
whatever differences of opinion may arise, that my 
arrangement will be found very useful. This particularly 
so, as these classifications are used as a means and not 
an end, and that hundreds of subjects are treated under 
them merely as a cover. These subjects will be found 
classified in the index. 

The "Books" are intended to represent a year of a 
child's life, and the "Parts" are intended to correspond 
with months. It is not recommended, however, to follow 
this idea in teaching the book, but the arrangement will 
always be useful in using it. 

At first the parent or teacher will have to teach the 
ideas contained herein, but as soon as the child can read 
intelligently, he can study the book unassisted ; but 
explanations and examples will always be useful. The 
book should not be laid aside until every principle of 
moral conduct is thoroughly understood. 

It will be impossible for any boy or girl who studies 
this book understanding^ to become a bad man* or 
woman, although they may not become great. 



CONTENTS. 



Book No. i. 

Part i God Page I 

" 2 Praise God 2 

" 3 Serve God 3 

Book No. 2. 

Part 1 Childhood 4 

" 2 Parents 6 

" 3 Love 8 

" 4 Obedience 10 

" 5 Duty 12 

" 6 Courtesy 14 

Book No. 3. 

Part 1 Little Things 16 

2 Do Your Best 18 

3 Thoughtfulness 20 

4 Selfishness 22 

5 Promptness 24 

6 Procrastination 26 

Book No. 4. 

Part 1 Character 28 

2 Virtue 30 

3 Prudence 32 

4 Justice 34 

5 Courage 36 

6 Temperance 38 

7 Purity 40 

8 Passions 42 

9 Thought 44 

10 Habit 46 

11 Association 48 

12 Individuality 50 



x Contents 

Book No. 5. 

Part 1 Manhood 52 

2 Truth 54 

3 Honesty 56 

4 Self 58 

5 Self-Control 60 

6 Self-Respect 62 

7 Self-Reliance 64 

8 Honor 66 

9 Integrity 68 

10 Sincerity 70 

1 1 Strength 72 

12 Discipline 74 

Book No. 6. 

Part 1 Manner 76 

2 Society 78 

3 Gentleman 80 

4 Lady 82 

5 Politeness 84 

6 Culture 86 

7 Kindness 88 

8 Dignity 90 

9 Dress 92 

10 Simplicity 94 

11 Cheerfulness 96 

12 Modesty 98 

Book No. 7. 

Part 1 Charity 100 

" 2 Advice 102 

" 3 Reform 104 

" 4 Goodwill 106 

" 5 Mercy 108 

" 6 Forgiveness no 

" 7 Criticism 112 

" 8 Generosity 114 

" 9 Reciprocity 116 

" 10 Sacrifices 118 

" n Sympathy 120 

" 12 Silence 122 



Contents xi 

Book No. 8. 

Part i Disposition 124 

" 2 Optimism 126 

" 3 Contentment.. .. 128 

" 4 Actions 130 

" 5 Conscience 132 

" 6 Patriotism 134 

" 7 Gratitude 136 

" 8 Election 138 

" 9 Goodness 140 

" 10 Patience 142 

"n Philosophy 144 

" 12 Perfection 146 

Book No. 9. 

Part 1 Weakness 148 

" 2 Ignorance 150 

" 3 Poverty 152 

" 4 Worry 154 

" 5 Timidity 156 

" 6 Indifference 158 

" 7 Fault Finding 160 

" 8 Greed 162 

" 9 Pride 164 

" 10 Crime 166 

" 11 Deceit 168 

" 12 Jealousy 170 

Book No. 10. 

Part 1 Happiness 172 

2 Health 174 

3 Money 176 

4 Better Than Money 178 

5 Friendship 180 

6 Heredity 182 

7 Life 184 

8 Blessings 186 

9 Beauty 188 

10 Rest 190 

11 Reaction 192 

12 Liberty 194 



xh Contents 

Book No. ii. 

Part i Education 196 

" 2 Mind and Body 198 

" 3 Common Sense 200 

" 4 Knowledge 202 

" 5 Wisdom . . . . • 204 

" 6 Experience 206 

" 7 Genius 208 

" 8 Nature 210 

" 9 Improvement 212 

" 10 History 214 

" 11 Necessity 216 

" 12 Influence 218 

Book No. 12. 

Part 1 Self-Culture 220 

" 2 Example 222 

" 3 Imitation 224 

" 4 Observation 226 

" 5 Reason 228 

" 6 Books 230 

" 7 Reflection 232 

" 8 Memory 234 

" 9 Study 236 

" 10 Opinion 238 

" 11 Tact 240 

" 12 Home 242 

Book No. 13. 

Part 1 Ambition 244 

" 2 Aspiration 246 

" 3 Admiration 248 

" 4 Ideals 250 

" 5 High Aim . . 252 

" 6 Judgment 254 

" 7 Foresight 256 

" 8 Enthusiasm 258 

" 9 Confidence 260 

" 10 Faith 262 

" 11 Hope 264 

" 12 Resolution. 266 



Contents xiii 

Book No. 14. 

Part 1 Preparation 268 

" 2 Start Right 270 

" 3 Purpose 272 

" 4 Single Purpose 274 

" 5 Appropriateness 276 

" 6 Time 278 

" 7 Application 280 

" 8 Details 282 

" 9 Determination 284 

" 10 Will 286 

"11 Endeavor 288 

" 12 The Present 290 

Book No. 15. 

Part 1 Method 292 

2 Originality 294 

3 Decision 296 

4 Devotion 298 

5 Industry 300 

6 Concentration 302 

7 Thoroughness 304 

8 Energy 306 

9 Perseverance 308 

10 Economy 310 

11 Pluck 312 

12 Crowding 314 

Book No. 16. 

Part 1 Labor 316 

2 Opportunity 318 

3 Usefulness 320 

4 Vocation 322 

5 Business 324 

6 Surroundings 326 

7 Competition 328 

8 Talent 330 

9 Merit 332 

10 Deserts 334 

11 Success 336 

12 Luck 338 



Contents 

Book No. 17. 

Part 1 Misfortune 340 

2 Failure 342 

3 Sorrow 344 

4 Difficulty 346 

5 Disappointment 348 

6 Discouragement 350 

7 Appearance 352 

8 Uncertainty 354 

9 Temptation 356 

10 Excess 358 

11 Idleness 360 

12 Debt 362 

Book No. 18. 

Part 1 Man 364 

2 Woman 366 

3 Marriage 368 

4 Family 370 

5 Classes and Masses 372 

6 Prosperity 374 

7 Reputation 376 

8 Leadership 378 

9 Greatness 380 

10 Fame 382 

11 Immorality 384 

12 Religion 386 



CHARACTER 

A MORAL TEXT-BOOK 

Book t. Part 1. God. 

Thou art, O God, the life and light 

Of all this wondrous world we see; 

Its glow by day, its smile by night, 

Are but reflections caught from Thee: 

Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine, 

And all things fair and bright are Thine. — Moore. 

Every child should be reared from the cradle in the firm 
belief that it is made in the image of the Creator, and with God- 
like attributes: that it was intended for success, not failure; for 
happiness, not unhappiness; for harmony, not discord. 

i. God is the Infinite and Eternal Energy, from 
which all things proceed ; the power present in every 
activity, physical, mental and spiritual. 

2. The forces and energies of nature bear indubita- 
ble testimony to the existence of mind, not only outside 
themselves, but in themselves and through themselves. 

3. God is not visible to man, but His presence is 
abundantly manifested to the reason of man. 

4. God is the first cause of all things. 

5. Infinite goodness, truth and beauty are the 
attributes of God and contributed by Him to things. 

6. God is above all creatures and all things. 

7. God made and rules the universe. 

8. The earth is God's and the fullness thereof; the 
world, and they that dwell therein. 

9. God's work is perfect; all His ways are judg- 
ment; He is God of truth and without iniquity, just and 
right is He. 

10. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. 

11. God is character. To love God is to love a 
good character and to strive to attain it. 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book I. Part 2. Praise God. 

Father of spirits! Thine all secrets be. 

I bless Thee for the light Thou has revealed, 
And that Thou hidest. Part of me I see, 

And part of me Thy wisdom hath concealed, 
Till the new life divulge it. — Owen Meredith. 

1. Let not the blessings you receive daily from 
God make you not to value or not to praise Him, because 
they are common. 

2. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him 
only shall you worship. 

3. Believe in the God who has written in your 
heart the law of duty, the law of progress, the law of 
sacrifice for others. 

4. All places of worship are invitations to the 
praise of God, and should be treated with great defer- 
ence, whether you enter and partake in the ceremonies 
or not. 

5. Never avoid but always encourage religious 
ceremonies of all kinds, whether you belong to the order 
or sect which directs them or not. Church-going, and 
association in religious meetings of all kinds, in a 
respectful manner, has a most salutary effect upon 
building a sensitive moral character. 

6. Give thanks unto the Lord ; for He is good ; for 
His mercy endures forever. 

7. Any act that alleviates or mitigates the sorrows 
or sufferings of any living creature is an act of praise 
to God and a benefit to you as well. 

8. To kindly treat the aged, to wait on their com- 
fort, and to respectfully listen to their words, is a noble 
way to praise God. 

9. Care of and kindness to dumb animals and the 
cultivation of flowers for their beauty and perfume, may 
be considered as acts of praise to the maker of them. 

10. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
your God : in it you shall not do any work. 

11. He who loves God loves his neighbor — poor 
or rich — and cannot fail to be just, true and merciful. 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book I. Part 3. Serve God. 

Father of life and light! Thou God Supreme! 

O teach me what is good! teach me thyself! 

Save me from folly, vanity and vice, 

From every low pursuit! and feed my soul 

With knowledge, conscious peace and virtue pure; 

Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss.: — Thompson. 

1. The God who is regarded as the authority of 
the moral law is not worshipped because He is unknow- 
able, but because His commandments, which are 
obviously knowable, are true ; because those who neglect 
Hiscommandments will bring down upon themselves and 
others the curses of the moral laws of nature, while 
those who obey them will change the curses into 
blessings. 

2. Your best should be given to Him who gives 
His best to you. 

3. You shall love the Lord your God with all your 
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 

4. You shall keep His statutes, and His command- 
ments, that it may go well with you, and with your 
children after you, and that you may prolong your days 
upon the earth, which the Lord your God has given you. 

5. Keep God's commandments because you love 
Him, not because you hope for His rewards or fear His 
punishments. 

6. Be you imitators of God, as beloved children, 
and walk in love as Christ even loved you. 

7. God is pure, and to be pure in thought, word 
and deed, to abhor the moment when you were not pure, 
is to serve Him who is purity and life. 

8. God is the authority of conduct. Obedience to 
God is morality, disobedience immorality. 

9. The sanctioned disregard of the moral laws and 
rules of educated society by any one, at any time, and in 
any place, is no excuse for your participation when you 
know they are wrong ; and you are not only not to enter 
upon them, but it is your duty to try to prevent them. 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book II. Part 1. Childhood. 

They are idols of hearts and of households; 

They are angels of God in disguise; 
His sunlight still sleeps in their tresses, 

His glory still gleams in their eyes. 

— Chas. M. Dickenson. 

1. The child comes laughing down the stream of 
life. Life seems to him a joyous, playful thing. Yet 
hourly, momentarily, he is marking out the course in 
which his future is apt to flow. 

2. Children have a real character, and an essential 
being of themselves. 

3. A child should be happy; he must, in every way, 
be made happy ; everything ought to be done to conduce 
to his happiness, to give him joy, gladness and pleasure. 

4. The child has a right to ask questions and to 
be fairly answered ; not to be snubbed as if he were 
guilty of an impertinence, nor ignored as though his 
desire for information were of no consequence, nor mis- 
led as if it did not signify whether true or false impres- 
sions were made upon his mind. 

5. As the character is biased in early life, so it 
generally remains, gradually assuming its permanent 
form as manhood is reached. 

6. For the child .the most important era of life is 
when he begins to color and mould himself by compan- 
ionship with others. 

7. The mind of childhood is like wax to receive, 
but like marble to hold every impression made upon it, 
be it for good or for evil. 

8. The child cannot help imitating what it sees. 
Everything to him is a model — of manner, of gesture, of 
speech, of habit, of character. 

9. Childhood is a mirror, which reflects in after 
life the images first presented to it. The first thing con- 
tinues forever with the child. The first joy, the first 
sorrow, the first success, the first achievement, the first 
misadventure, paint the foreground of his life. 



io. Those impulses to conduct which last the long- 
est and are rooted the deepest, always have their origin 
near birth. It is then that the germs of virtues or vices, 
of feelings or sentiments, are first implanted which 
determine the character for life. 

ii. The child's character is the nucleus of the 
man's; all after education is merely what is added; the 
form of the crystal remains the same. 

12. The least and most imperceptible impressions 
received in infancy have consequences very important, 
and of a long duration. 

13. The folly of the child becomes the vice of the 
youth, and then the crime of the man. 

14. Auspicious is the day in which the child is 
made to accept the truth that the measures of character 
are justice, love, purity, truth and hope. 

15. There is no higher office than that of a teacher 
of youth, as there is nothing on earth so precious as 
the mind, soul and character of a child. 

16. Children are wonderful imitators, so that it is 
comparatively easy to lead them early into good ways. 

17. All persons are more apt to learn through the 
eye than the ear; and whatever is seen makes a far 
deeper impression than anything that is merely read or 
heard. This is especially the case in early youth, when 
the eye is the chief inlet of knowledge. 

18. Precocity is not a sign of ability and should 
not be unduly encouraged. 

19. Kindness, politeness, constant love, and all due 
consideration, the child should have ; but justice is as 
important as affection. 

20. Fairness, not severity nor constant concessions, 
is what a child appreciates. If you behave fairly to the 
child, giving to him the healthy reaction of common 
justice, you help him to live easily and rightly in the 
world before him. 

21. Not what the child wishes, nor what the mother 
wishes, is the standard of measurement, but what is 
really beneficial to the child. 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book II. Part 2. Parents. 

By degrees 
The human blossom blows: and every day, 
Soft as it rolls along, shows some new charm, 
The Father's lustre, and the Mother's bloom. 
The infant reason grows apace, and calls 
For the kind hand of an assiduous care. 
Delightful task! to rear the tender Thought, 
To teach the young idea how to shoot, 
To pour the fresh Instruction o'er the mind, 
To breathe the enlivening Spirit, and to fix 
The generous purpose in the glowing heart. — Thompson. 

1. Every child should represent a higher step in 
social growth than its parents, and every parent should 
reverently recognize this. For a time the parent has the 
advantage. He has knowledge, skill, and power; and 
in the order of nature he is set to nourish to the younger 
generation till it supplant him. 

2. The work of parenthood is not only to guard 
and nourish the young, but to develop the qualities 
needed in the mature. 

3. You have the power, by example and story, of 
filling the child with inspiring ideals, so as to give direc- 
tion to its will, and energy of growth to its character. 

4. You can control the child's environment, so that 
suggestions of good — physical, mental, and moral — and 
not evil, are ever unconsciously sowing themselves in 
its brain. 

5. No education or influence, however powerful it 
may be, can overcome, in after life, the effect of the bias 
given to the character of children by the daily example 
of their parents, which is absorbed imperceptibly into 
the inmost soul, and lasts forever. 

6. The child at length imbibes ideas; under proper 
influence he learns to obey, to control himself, to be 
kind to others, to be dutiful and happy. He has a will 
of his own; but whether it will be well or ill directed 
depends very much upon parental influences. 



7. To surround a growing creature with artificial 
difficulties, to fail to understand or allow for the natural 
difficulties of his age, and then punish with arbitrary- 
retribution the behavior which is sure to appear, this is 
not the kind of discipline which makes wise, strong, 
self-governing citizens. , 

8. It is the parents' duty to furnish proper food, 
to insure proper rest, and to allow and encourage proper 
exercise. This is wanted to promote right brain growth. 
The brain should not be overstimulated and developed 
at the expense of the other organs. 

9. The more carefully and wisely children are 
taught and trained by their parents, the less they and 
others need suffer afterwards. 

10. A parent who sends his son into the world 
uneducated and without skill in any art or science, does 
a great injury to mankind as well as to his own family; 
for he defrauds the community of a useful citizen and 
bequeaths to it a nuisance. 

11. Parents have it in their power to train their 
children to abhor that which is evil and to cleave to 
that which is good. 

12. Children seldom rise higher than the fountain- 
head of the mother's character. 

13. A mother needs a symmetrical character of 
firmness and gentleness combined, with the deep con- 
sciousness that she must train her children not for 
herself alone, but to be a blessing to themselves and a 
blessing to the world. 

14. It is because the mother, far more than the 
father, influences the action and conduct of the child, 
that her good example is of so much greater importance 
in the home. She is the example and model constantly 
before the children's eyes, whom they unconsciously 
observe and imitate. 

15. The mothers of the world are responsible for 
the children of the world. The bad habits of other 
children affect theirs — their ignorance, their ill man- 
ners, their sins. Children suffer individually from bad 
social conditions, but cannot be saved individually. 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book II. Part 3. Love. 

Ah, how skillful grows the hand 
That obeyeth Love's command! 
It is the heart, and not the brain, 
That to the highest doth attain. 
And he who followeth Love's behest 
Far excelleth all the rest. — Longfellow. 

1. Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. 

2. Love is God in human nature, enlightening, 
refining, purifying. In the life designed by God for 
man, law and love blend into a perfect character, repro- 
ducing the Divine Personality, so far as the limitations 
of a human being permit. 

3. Of all great things in the world there is none 
greater than love, and he who loves most is most like 
God. 

4. There is nothing on earth worthy of being com- 
pared to love. No other thing can give, by itself, 
unalloyed happiness. 

5. Love strengthens character and surrounds it 
with bulwarks. 

6. Love is the one word that sums up all the duties 
that you owe to all forms of living beings. 

7. Love is the universal principle of good. It is 
glorified in human intelligence. It is the only remedy 
for the woes of the human race. 

8. The love of kindred or family ties — the affec- 
tions, constitute not only one of the dearest bonds on 
earth, but the basis also, or germ of universal benev- 
olence. 

9. Love sees the glory in the grass, the sunshine 
in the flowers. It encourages happy thoughts, and lives 
in an atmosphere of cheerfulness. It costs nothing and 
yet is invaluable ; for it blesses its possessor, and grows 
up in abundant happiness in the bosoms of others. Even 



its sorrows are linked with pleasures, and its very tears 
are sweet. 

io. To love and to be loved is the greatest happi- 
ness of existence. 

ii. You cannot be envious, avaricious, hard- 
hearted; you cannot be gross, sensual, unclean, if you 
love. Love is the death of all bitter and unholy moods 
of the soul, because love lifts you out of yourself and 
teaches you to live in another. 

12. By loving whatever is lovable in those around 
you, love will flow back from them to vou, and life will 
become a pleasure instead of a pain. 

13. Love has no commandment; she does all 
things of herself spontaneously — hastens and delays not. 
It is enough to her that it is only shown her; she needs 
no driving. 

14. The love which is the outcome of esteem and 
admiration has an elevating and purifying effect on the 
character. 

15. Love is the grand remedy for all the ills of the 
mind. It is the great solvent for anger, hatred, jealousy, 
and all the bitter animosities. 

16. Love will creep when it cannot walk ; will 
accomplish that, by imperceptible methods, which force 
could never achieve. 

17. There is that in the human heart which 
responds to the voice of gentle, pitying love, when all 
other agencies have lost their power. 

18. Love lasts through life, and adapts itself to 
every age and circumstance; in childhood for father and 
mother, in manhood for wife, in age for children, and 
throughout life for brothers, sisters, relatives and 
friends. 

19. Love turns duty into delight. 

20. Love should give wings to the feet of service, 
and strength to the arms of labor. 

21. Try love's way because it begets truth and 
honesty in your heart and makes you fearless in your 
dealings with others. 

22. Love has power to give in a moment what toil 
can scarcely give in an age. 



10 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book II. Part 4. Obedience. 

If you're told to do a thing, 

And mean to do it, really, 
Never let it be by halves, 

Do it fully, freely! 
Do not make a poor excuse, 

Waiting, weak, unsteady; 
All obedience worth the name 

Must be prompt and ready. — Anon. 

1. The principle and habit of obedience, of submis- 
sion to authority, should be wrought into the inmost 
nature, from infancy. 

2. Obedience must be the primary law of the 
family. 

3. A little child of five can be as implicitly obedient 
as a youth of eighteen. The difference between the two 
lies not in the principle, but in the nature of the work 
demanded. 

4. That little feet should run on other people's 
errands, and little hands should always be ready to be 
obliging is necessary, not only to their own culture, but 
to the machinery of their homes, in order that all may 
run smoothly. 

5. To teach the child to obey and to yield its will 
to the will of the parent, is the first step towards building 
a great character. 

6. It is not the code of conduct, however good, 
with its rewards or threats, that secures true obedience ; 
it is the personal living influence, wakening love and 
enthusiasm. 

7. The true pupil yields his master a whole- 
hearted and unhesitating submission. 

8. It is much easier to obey than to govern. 

9. Obedience for reward must always stand lower 
than when it is the delightful expression of love. 

10. All the good of which humanity is capable, is 
comprised in obedience. 

11. Obedience is the foundation of moral character. 

12. Obedience to duty, at all costs and risks, is the 
very essence of the highest civilized life. 



II 

13. The duty of making your child obey springs 
from something beyond and above your own happiness 
and the smooth running of your home life. The habit of 
implicit and unquestioning obedience to parental author- 
ity is the foundation of good citizenship. 

14. Because the child does not know what is best 
for it, it is bound to obey. Obedience is the first of 
filial duties. 

15. To learn obeying is the fundamental art of 
governing. 

16. As children grow up they will understand 
better and better the reasons why they are obliged to do 
thus and so. But, whether they understand or not, they 
must obey the moral law as it comes to them from the 
lips of their parents. 

17. Those who learn the laws which govern men 
and things and obey them, are the really great and suc- 
cessful men in the world. 

18. Obedience *s binding upon a man as long as he 
lives. 

19. Willing and cheerful obedience, rendered in 
early life, and the lessons of submission and privation 
then learned, fit man for the life-struggle which awaits 
him in the world. 

20. Docility, subservience, a quick surrender of 
purpose, a wavering, untrained judgment — these are the 
qualities developed by unnecessarily required obedience. 

21. Defective obedience is always the result of a 
defective life. You must learn to obey your own con- 
science as well as the rightful authority of others. 

22. Rogues differ little. Each begins as a disobe- 
dient son. , 

23. Disobedience is the root of all sin and misery. 

24. There is nothing more ruinous to children than 
to allow them to be disobedient ; in fact, it is a cruelty 
and sin to permit them to be so. 

25. The doctrines and precepts of morality which 
guide the practice of the good citizen must be obeyed 
by every human being. 



12 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IE. Part 5. Duty. 

The sweetest lives are those to duty wed, 
Whose deeds, both great and small, 
Are close knit strands of an unbroken thread, 
"Where love ennobles all. — Mrs. Browning. 

1. The abiding sense of duty is the very crown of 
character. It is the upholding law of man in his highest 
attitudes. Without it the individual totters and falls 
before the first puff of adversity or temptation ; whereas, 
inspired by it, the weakest becomes strong and full of 
courage. 

2. Duty is the cement which binds the whole moral 
edifice together; without which, all power, goodness, 
intellect, truth, happiness, love itself, can have no perma- 
nence. 

3. Life is of little value unless it be consecrated 
to duty. 

4. Duty is based upon a sense of justice — justice 
inspired by love, which is the most perfect form of 
goodness. 

5. Duty rounds the whole of life, from your 
entrance into it until your exit from it — duty to superiors, 
duty to inferiors, and duty to equals. Duty to man and 
duty to God. 

6. Duty is the end and aim of the highest life ; the 
truest pleasure of all is that derived from the conscious- 
ness of its fulfillment. 

7. When you are not too anxious about happiness, 
but devote yourself to the strict and unsparing perform- 
ance of duty, then happiness comes of itself. 

8. Duty will lead you to your place in the world, 
and to your life work, if you will let it do so. 

9. Doing your duty embodies the highest ideal of 
life and character. There may be nothing heroic about 
it ; but the common lot of man is not heroic. 

10. Duty is closely allied to truthfulness of char- 
acter; and the dutiful man is, above all things, truthful 
in his actions. He says and he does the right thing in 
the right way, and at the right time. 



13 

11. Whoever strives to do his duty faithfully, is 
fulfilling the purpose for which he was created, and 
building up in himself the principles of manly character. 

12. Duties are universally defined by the bonds of 
relation. 

13. Regular, prescribed exercises have the first 
claim on your time, and should never be thrust aside by 
incidental things. 

14. If a duty is binding and important, there should 
be no hesitation. 

15. What it is your duty to do, you must do because 
it is right, not because anyone can demand it of you. 

16. Whatever comes in the way of a plain duty 
ought to be set aside. 

17. You have each of you to do your duty in that 
sphere of life in which you have been placed. 

18. Every person has duties towards those around 
him. 

19. The sense of duty gives you the power of 
overcoming difficulties, of resisting temptations, of doing 
that for which you strive, of becoming honest, kind and 
true. 

20. The sense of duty smooths your path through 
life. It helps you to know, to learn, and to obey. 

21. Duty, in its purest form, is so constraining that 
you never think, in performing it, of yourself at all. 

2,2,. Every time you perform a duty unselfishly, it 
yields you a little bit of happiness ; but it will never give 
itself up, except to the hand that performs the duty. 

23. While, duty, for the most part, applies to the 
conduct of affairs in common life, by the average of men, 
it is also a sustaining power to men of the very highest 
standard of character. 

24. You have not fulfilled every duty until you 
have fulfilled the duty of being pleasant. 

25. Duty is not a sentiment, but a principle pervad- 
ing life ; it exhibits itself in conduct and in acts, which 
are mainly determined by your conscience and free-will. 



14 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book II. Part 6. Courtesy. 

There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: 

If the ill spirit have so fair a house, 

Good things will strive to dwell with 't. — Shakespeare. 

1. While it is comparatively easy to be courteous 
toward strangers or toward people of distinction, it 
should be remembered that it is at home, in the family, 
and among kindred, that an every-day politeness of man- 
ner is really most to be prized. There it confers sub- 
stantial benefits and brings the sweetest returns. 

2. The lessons of courtesy, tact, and good breeding 
are easily learned, and politeness soon becomes a second 
nature. Anybody can be charming who cares to be so. 
It is a matter of attention and pains. 

3. Civilities are the garments of character. 

4. The true spirit of civility is very closely allied 
to that of good morals. 

5. Every child should be trained to courteous self- 
possession and a kindly regard for the rights of others. 

6. In homes where true courtesy prevails, it seems 
to meet you on the threshold. You feel the kindly wel- 
come on entering. 

7. The trend of the home training shows itself 
early in a child's life, and often by single small acts it is 
made evident that the principles of courtesy are incul- 
cated. 

8. The truth of what you are escapes like fragrance 
from high civility and the soul of courtesy, and on the 
other hand marks as lowbred some who pride themselves 
on all the elegances of conduct. 

9. Courtesy is the mark of good training, and while 
it is only the exterior part, you must bear in mind that 
the world judges you to a great extent by appearances. 

10. There are many little trivial acts of courtesy 
which show more about your character than many vague 
phrases. These are easy to acquire, and their effect will 
last long. 



i5 

ii. Courtesy to women is always and everywhere 
imperative. 

12. Do not delay courtesy through modesty. If it 
will make you or any of God's creatures happier by doing 
it, do it. 

13. A courteous man always predisposes people in 
his favor ; he creates everywhere an agreeable impres- 
sion; he makes people willing to serve and anxious to 
keep him. 

14. A fine courtesy is a fortune in itself. The 
good mannered can go without riches, for they have 
passports everywhere. 

15. Courtesy is a real ornament, the most beautiful 
dress that man or woman can wear, and worth more as 
a means of winning favor than the finest clothes and 
jewels ever worn. 

16. Courtesy is to a man what beauty is to a 
woman. It creates an instantaneous impression in his 
behalf, while the opposite quality excites as quick a 
prejudice against him. 

17. Courtesy is the only way to deal with the 
courteous, and the best way to deal with the rude. 

18. While courtesy is not the most important 
acquirement, it has a great deal to do with your reputa- 
tion and success. 

19. In all affairs of life, courtesies of a small and 
trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to 
the grateful heart. 

20. Courtesy, as a mere business quality, is worth 
its weight in gold. 

21. Little courtesies are sometimes very great — 
great in their happy results. 

22. It behooves a man in every station and under 
every possible circumstance, to be as agreeable as possi- 
ble to every one he meets. 

23. Into the minutest details of daily life, into your 
hours of prosperity and adversity alike, in seasons of 
calm weather and in hours of storm and stress, enters 
the need of being agreeable. 

24. It is a sign of a meagre and half-developed 
nature to be too economical and sparing of thanks. 



i6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book III. Part I. Little Things. 

A little bit of patience often makes the sunshine come, 

And a little bit of love makes a very happy home; 

A little bit of hope makes a rainy day look guy, 

And a little bit of charity makes glad a weary way. — Anon. 

1. Character is made up of small duties faithfully 
performed — of self-denials, of self-sacrifices, of kindly- 
acts of love and duty. 

2. The opportunity to do one of the little things 
that make life beautiful comes nearly every day and 
almost every waking hour. If you make the apparently 
trifling events of life beautiful and good, then your whole 
existence will be full of harmony and sweetness. 

3. Trifles lighter than straws are levers in the 
upbuilding of character. 

4. Keep your room, your person, and everything 
you have anything to do with as neat as possible. 
Neatness is the greatest little thing in the human char- 
acter. 

5. No act or accident of your life is insignificant; 
the most trifling may be the germ of your destiny. 

6. The struggle upward is only by the little here 
and the little there faithfully accomplished. It is only 
by recognizing each new task as a means of growth that 
you shall presently arrive at the place where you wish 
to be. 

7. Take trouble to render little services, great 
services may never be asked of you. 

8. The most trivial tasks can be accomplished in a 
noble, gentle, regal spirit, which overrides and puts 
aside all petty, paltry feelings, and which elevates all 
little things. 

9. Do little things now, so shall big things come 
to you by and by asking to be done. 

10. Great things come naturally to him who has 
done small things well. 

11. Do not wait for great things; for while you 
wait, the door to little ones may close. 



i7 

12. It is the aggregation of little things which 
makes the great ones. 

13. You can all do little things, and do them well, 
if you will. 

14. It is the little acts of kindness, the little cour- 
tesies, the disposition to be accommodating, to be help- 
ful, to be sympathetic, to be unselfish, to be careful not 
to wound the feelings, to be charitable to the weaknesses 
of others, to be considerate — these are the little things 
which, added up at night, are found to be the secret of a 
happy day. 

15. It is the little disputes, little fault-findings, 
little insinuations, little reflections, sharp criticisms, 
fretfulness and impatience, little unkindnesses, slurs, 
little discourtesies, bad temper, that create most of the 
discord and unhappiness in the family. 

16. Little deceptions and hypocracies are the very 
beginnings of depravity of a monstrous growth, that 
develops itself in later years in the form of thefts, fraud, 
murder and higher crimes. 

17. If you tolerate sin in what you think to be 
little things, you will soon indulge it in greater matters. 

18. The bad thing about a little sin is that it will 
not stay little. 

19. Some little weakness, some self-indulgence, a 
quick temper, want of decision, are little things, you say, 
when placed beside great abilities, but they have 
wrecked many a career. 

20. Some little weakness, as lack of courtesy, want 
of decision, a bad temper, may nullify the labor of years. 

21. Trifles light as air sometimes suggest to the 
thinking mind ideas which revolutionize the world. 

22. Many great men have testified that their whole 
lives have been influenced by some single remark made 
to them in their boyhood. 

23. It is but the littleness of man that sees no 
greatness in trifles. 

24. One of the prime causes of failure is the ignor- 
ing of small things in detail; the insignificant matters 
as they are styled. 

25. To a truly great mind there are no little things. 



i8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book III. Part 2. Do Your Best. 

There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave, 
There are souls that are pure and true! 

Then give to the world the best you have, 
And the best will come back to you. 

— Madeline S. Bridges. 

1. It is your duty to make the most of your talents 
and opportunities ; and, instead of discouraging yourself 
by comparisons and impossibilities, to believe all things 
imaginary possible, as indeed, almost all things are, to a 
spirit bravely and firmly resolved to do his best. 

2. No reward is comparable to the inward assur- 
ance that you have done your best. 

3. The exercise of the highest faculties of the mind 
is not only stimulating but creates the highest character. 

4. Intelligent earnestness is essential, and ulti- 
mately wins, but it calls for the very best effort of which 
you are capable. 

5. Work for others as if you were working for 
yourself, and endeavoring to carve out your own fortune. 

6. It is very important that you fill your place in 
an acceptable manner, and with credit to yourself. 

7. You ought not to be satisfied with anything that 
can be improved. 

8. Strive to excel in whatever you undertake and 
to win in open competition. 

9. The most brilliant lives have often been those of 
men of ordinary gifts, who, exerting to the utmost such 
power as was given them, accomplished more than hun- 
dreds of men who were much more bountifully supplied 
with mental qualifications. 

10. The greatest thing a man can do is to make the 
most possible out of the stuff that has been given to him. 
This is success and there is no other. 

11. Every occasion is great enough to demand your 
best work, your highest efforts. 

12. Unless you put the best of yourself into what 
you do, your character will deteriorate. 



19 

13. He who does his best, whatever his lot may 
be, is on the sure road to advancement. 

14. Being and doing your best is preparation for 
higher being and doing. 

15. Life finds its noblest spring of excellence in the 
hidden impulse to do your best. 

16. The ideal for any young man ought not to be 
that he who does not do the best of any fails, but that he 
who does not do the best he can, fails. 

17. There is an inherent love in the human mind 
for wholeness, a demand that man shall come up to the 
highest standard ; and there is an inherent protest or 
contempt for preventable deficiency. 

18. The man or woman who half does things does 
not realize that they not only spoil the work but their 
character and happiness also. 

19. Slipshod work always means a slipshod man 
or woman, and is dishonest. 

20. Nobody has confidence in the man who half 
does things. 

21. There is a splendid wealth of aspiration in 
youth, a pure and haughty desire for the very highest. 

22. A young man should do what he does well. If 
he does one thing well, he is surely a successful man. 

23. Everyone has naturally the power of excelling 
in some one thing, and will surely do so, if faithful to 
himself. 

24. God helps those who help themselves. 

25. The world wants the very best thing. It wants 
your best. 

26. No man fails who does his best. 

27. Learn something and learn it well. 

28. Make the most and best of yourself. 

29. Whatsoever you find to do, do it with all your 
might. 

30. Striving to be good, is a direct road toward 
goodness. 

31. Make every occasion a great occasion, for you 
cannot tell when Fate will take your measure for a 
higher place. 



20 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book HI. Part 3. Thoughtfulness. 

Who does the best his circumstance allows, 
Does well, acts nobly. — Young-. 

1. Thoughtfulness on the part of a child does great 
honor to its parents. 

2. You cannot too early cultivate presence of mind — 
that phase of thoughtfulness that is instantly ready, 
under all circumstances and in all emergencies, to do 
and say the very best thing conditions will permit. 

3. Self-possession is one of the marks of the truly 
cultured; it denotes the possession of many other 
virtues. 

4. It is better to do what your parents will want 
you to do before they command you to do it. Be 
thoughtful and anticipate their commands. Try to 
think what they will want you to do next, and do it be- 
fore they tell you. 

5. Do not wait for your mother or father to tell 
you not to do certain things. Find out what their 
wishes are and follow them. 

6. No pleasanter sight is there, than a family of 
young folks who are quick to perform little acts of atten- 
tion toward their elders. 

7. Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may 
be expected to grow, and strength be given to every 
upspringing plant of duty. 

8. All things are soon prepared in a well-ordered 
house. 

9. An action well planned is half done. 

10. The first years of man must make provision for 
the last. 

11. Fight hard against hasty temper. A fit of 
passion may give you cause to mourn all the days of 
your life. 

12. Think first and deeply, and speak last and 
concisely. 

13. Acknowledge a mistake as soon as you discover 
you have made one. 

14. A sound discretion is not so much indicated by 
never making a mistake as by never repeating it. 



21 



15. Guard your weak point. 

16. The perfect lady and gentleman are always 
polite in public places, considerate of the comfort and 
wishes of others, and unobtrusive in their behavior. 

17. Sweeter than the perfume of roses is a reputa- 
tion for a kind, charitable, unselfish nature ; a ready dis- 
position to do to others any good turn in your power. 

18. Never waste that which you do not need, but 
give it to the poor, even though you have to go to some 
trouble to do so. 

19. There is no difference in quality between sins 
of omission and sins of commission. 

20. Be advised to be always on your guard and 
never give occasion for offense. 

21. True courtesy is kind. It exhibits itself in the 
disposition to contribute to the happiness of others, and 
thoughtfulness in refraining from all that may annoy 
them. 

22. Always keep your wits about you and you will 
not be trampled on. 

23. Be thoughtful of three things — temper, tongue 
and conduct. 

24. Begin early to cultivate a habit of thoughtful- 
ness and consideration for others, especially for those 
whom you are commanded to honor. 

25. The thoughtful man is the most useful man. 

26. The thoughtful man is very charitable to those 
who differ from him and is never dogmatic in his utter- 
ances. 

2.7. A thoughtful man knows it is possible for him 
to be mistaken and respects the opinions of others. 

28. The most vigorous thinkers are those who have 
been taught early to make practical use of their knowl- 
edge. 

29. You cannot expect to be happy if you do not 
lead pure and useful lives. 

30. Learn to deny yourself and prefer others. 

31. Take trouble to say kindly things if you can 
perform no greater service. 

32. Do not expect impossibilities, but simply the 
possible for which proper efforts have been made. 



22 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book III. Part 4. Selfishness. 

A little kingdom I possess, 

Where thoughts and feelings dwell, 
And very hard I find the task 

Of governing it well; 
For passion tempts and troubles me, 

A wayward will misleads, 
And selfishness its shadow casts 

On all my words and deeds. — Alice Cary. 

1. In the close quarters of the family, where all 
are interdependent and the temper of one may make the 
prevailing atmosphere of the household joyous or sad 
for days together, it is incumbent to cultivate amiable 
dispositions and habits of unselfishness. 

2. Selfishness, if uncurbed, leads to unprovoked and 
the meanest kind of falsehood. 

3. Selfishness in childhood displays itself most 
prominently in appropriating to itself things which it 
knows rightfully belong to others and in a refusal to 
allow other children to take a desirable part in games 
and diversions. 

4. It is far better to yield than to quarrel, and he 
who yields is the real conqueror. He conquers others. 
An unselfish child has more friends, and really gets more 
favors, than a selfish child. 

5. No matter what your situation and prospects 
are ; no matter if you are perfectly independent and heir 
to millions, you will certainly become a worthless char- 
acter if you do not aim at something higher than your 
own selfish enjoyment ; if you do not devote yourself 
to some useful and honorable calling. 

6. You can not be truly rich if you are selfish. 

7. Money, power and influence, when controlled 
by selfishness, become a curse that debases the mind and 
corrupts the heart. 

8. You can not have friends unless you give 
thought and pains to pleasing them. This is why the 
selfish are friendless. 

9. The wisest men have taken care to uproot 
selfishness from their breasts. 



23 

io. Human selfishness is universal and has to be 
met and curbed with resolution. 

ii. It is not for yourself alone that you work and 
strive. It is for others as well as yourself. There are 
moral laws, domestic affections, home government and 
guidance, which stand on a higher level and are based 
on nobler considerations than mere selfish pleasures. 

12. Self-partiality hides from you those very faults 
in yourself which you see and condemn in others. 

13. To do good to those who do not appreciate it, 
to serve those who will never even know by whom the 
service was rendered, are marks of true unselfishness. 

14. Among the minor trials of life none more per- 
sistently forces itself upon notice than a disregard for 
the rights of others. 

15. Beware of a growing covetousness, for cov- 
etousness, is of all sins, one of the most insidious. 

16. The covetous person lives as if the world was 
made altogether for him, and not he for the world; to 
take in everything and part with nothing. 

17. The man who is always scheming and planning 
to get the better of somebody else will unconsciously 
blight and wither up the qualities which, if nurtured, 
would bring into fruitage the principles of true man- 
hood. 

18. The mind that is being constantly trained in 
shrewdness, sharpness, sagacity, cunning ; that is ever on 
the alert to take advantage of a competitor's weakness — 
the training which teaches a youth to use those who 
have fallen as stepping stones to his own elevation, is a 
process of education which develops only the brute qual- 
ities and dwarfs or wholly destroys manhood. 

19. The truly unselfish person is interested in 
others, whether or not they are in themselves attractive. 

20. Unselfishness seeks no human recognition. 

21. Selfishness is the worst kind of littleness. 

22. A certain amount of selfishness is natural to* 
childhood ; acts indicating unusual selfishness call for 
correction. 



24 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book III. Part 5. Promptness. 

True worth is in being, not seeming — 
In doing, each day that goes by, 

Some little good, not in the dreaming 

Of great things to do by and by. — Alice Cary. 

1. Whatever business you have, do it the first 
moment you can ; never by halves, but finish it without 
interruption, if possible. 

2. Take time to deliberate and advise, but lose no 
time in executing your resolutions. 

3. Do not live a single hour of your life without 
doing exactly what is to be done in it, and going straight 
through it from beginning to end. 

4. Work, play, study — whatever it is, take hold at 
once, and finish it squarely; then to the next thing, 
without letting any moments drop between. 

5. A habit of prompt choice, of not allowing the 
mind to wander and balance between conflicting motives, 
is a most important one, and cannot be too carefully cul- 
tivated. 

6. Want of promptitude in action, is a defect of 
character, which is found to stand very much in the way 
of individual progress. 

7. Many of the little duties of life are hard to per- 
form if allowed to accumulate, but dispatched promptly 
pass by unnoticed and unfelt. 

8. Take hold of the very first thing that comes to 
hand, and you will find the rest all fall into file, and 
follow after, like a company of well-drilled soldiers. 

9. Tomorrow-men never do anything. It is the 
today-men, the now-men, who accomplish the great 
things in the world. 

10. Prompt, vigorous action robs a dreaded task of 
half its terrors. 

11. The habit forming period of life is the dangerous 
period. Accustom yourself early to the habit of doing 
everything as soon as circumstances will permit. 

12. When you have a disagreeable, perplexing thing 
to do, do not put off the doing. Anticipation will clothe 



25 

it with new difficulties, and fear of what, after all, may- 
be more imaginary than real, will steal from you your 
peace of mind, and perhaps destroy your strength and 
ability to do the thing required. 

13. Boys fail to satisfy the demands made upon 
them more through lack of punctuality than by any other 
reason. 

14. Let the thing commanded by a superior 
authority be done simply because it is commanded, and 
let it be done with punctuality. 

15. Thousands of dismissals, rebuffs, discourage- 
ments and failures at the beginning of a career could be 
avoided by making a cardinal point of being always on 
hand, in proper places, during every moment when sub- 
ject to duty. 

16. If you have been in the habit of half-doing 
things, of putting everything off until the last moment, 
resolve now, from this hour, that you will compel your- 
self to do whatever you undertake promptly and 
efficiently. 

17. Promptness is the mother of confidence and 
gives credt. 

18. In life as in business, dispatch is better than 
discourse ; and the shortest answer of all is doing. 

19. The individual who is tardy in meeting an 
appointment will never be respected or successful in life, 

20. Take advantage of opportunities and utilize 
them to the best of your ability. 

21. Golden opportunities present themselves almost 
every day to all, if they would only use them. 

22. Do not brood over the past or dream of the 
future ; but seize the instant and get your lesson from 
the hour. 

23. Promptness is one of the practical virtues of 
civilization. 

24. Without promptness no success is possible. 

25. Promptness takes the drudgery out of an occu- 
pation. 

26. To think and ideate promptly is to live that 
much longer. 



26 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book Ml. Part 6. Procrastination. 

Procrastination is the thief of time: 

Tear after year it steals, till all are fled, 

And to the mercies of a moment leaves 

The vast concerns of an eternal scene. — Young-. 

1. Everything in human character goes to wreck 
under the reign of procrastination, while prompt action 
gives to all things a corresponding and proportional life 
and energy. 

2. Indecision becomes a disease and procrastination 
is its forerunner. 

3. Procrastination stealthily snatches precious mo- 
ments daily from every thoughtless life. 

4. Procrastination makes you tardy at school, and 
just a little late in everything you do, until you have lost 
your reputation for promptness and injured your char- 
acter. 

5. Tomorrow, the chance which was golden today, 
will be within the realm of the impossible. 

6. There should be no loitering in the morning 
because you can retrieve your losses in the evening. 

7. The energy wasted in postponing until tomorrow 
a duty of today, would often do the work. 

8. It is waste of time to dread the disagreeable. It 
must be faced promptly and duty manfully met. 

9. If the habit of entering on what is not carried 
out and completed, be allowed in early life, the evil 
increases as long as you live. 

10. It is generally the idle who complain they can- 
not find time to do that which they fancy they wish. 

11. A person may cause evil to others not only by 
his action but by his inaction, and in either case he is 
justly accountable to them for the injury. 

12. Those who chase that fantom deceiver, tomor- 
row, never arrive anywhere, never come to anything but 
failure. 

13. Many men have been cajoled and led to ruin by 
that fascinating word tomorrow. 



27 

14- One reason you have to stay so long in the 
school of adversity is that you spend so much time crying 
over your lessons, instead of learning them. 

15. It is the essence of character to take the initia- 
tive. In the affairs of the world a boy that has to be 
told, to be drawn out and pushed ahead, gets left behind. 

16. You should early learn that, in business and 
morals, he who hesitates is lost. 

17. If children's curiosity leads them to ask ques- 
tions which they should not know, it is better to tell them 
plainly that it is a thing that they should not know than 
to put them off with a false excuse. 

18. One frequent cause of delay and slow work is 
dawdling over details until they have been developed far 
beyond the main subject. 

19. Do what you know is right and what you know 
you ought to do, even when you do not feel like doing 
it. Keep up this rigid discipline day after dav and week 
after week, and you will soon learn the art of all arts — 
perfect self-mastery. 

20. To you belongs your fair share of manful toil 
and human duty ; and it cannot be shirked without loss 
to yourself, as well as to the community to which you 
belong. 

21. While you are considering where to begin, it is 
often too late to act. 

22. If time be of all things the most precious, wast- 
ing time must be the greatest prodigality. 

23. Procastination never does anything until tomor- 
row. 

24. Drifting, wherever else it may carry you, is 
sure to lead to procrastination. 

25. Lost time is never found again, and what you 
call time enough always proves little enough. 

26. Unless you determine to achieve those things 
which are absolutely indispensable to success, and sacri- 
fice all the little trifles which are ever nibbling away at 
your precious moments, you will accomplish nothing 
worthy of a great life. 



28 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 1. Character. 

We, like the leaf, the summit, or the wave, 
Reflect the light our common nature gave, 
But every sunbeam, falling from her throne, 
Wears, on our hearts, some coloring of our own. 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

1. As there is nothing in the world great but man, 
there is nothing truly great in man but character. 

2. No one can eventually fill the positions in the 
community that he ought to fill, and which he hopes to 
fill, unless his character is spotless. 

3. The cultivation of all parts of the moral and 
intellectual nature is requisite to form the man or 
woman of healthy and well-balanced character. 

4. The grandest character is where no one quality 
overshadows the rest, but each is rounded into the other, 
and none is wanting. 

5. Character is property. It is the noblest of pos- 
sessions. It is an estate in the general good-will and 
respect of men ; and they who invest in it — though they 
may not become rich in worldly goods — will find their 
reward in esteem and reputation fairly and honorably 
won. 

6. Your character cannot be essentially injured 
except by your own acts. 

7. It is natural for all classes to believe in and 
follow character, for character is power. 

8. Character is power — is influence ; it makes 
friends, creates funds, draws patronage and support, and 
opens a sure and easy way to wealth, honor, and happi- 
ness. 

9. Character grows, for the most part, insidiously. 
Now and then it gets notable impulses which you can 
mark, but commonly it grows imperceptibly, like your 
bodies. 

10. There is one indestructible material which noth- 
ing in the way of adversity or discouragement can over- 
come, and that is character. 

n. It is very important for everybody, and 
especially for the young, to be very careful as to the 



29 

impressions he cherishes, the examples he imitates, and 
the habits he forms. These are important elements which 
go to constitute character, and if they are of an improper 
nature, the result will be ruinous. 

12. Though your character is formed by circum- 
stances, your own desires can do much to shape those 
circumstances. 

13. You cannot dream yourself into a character; 
you must hammer and forge yourself one. 

14. Your mind is given you, but your character you 
make. 

15. Every thought which enters the mind, every 
word you utter, every deed you perform, makes its 
impression upon the inmost fiber of your being, and the 
resultant of these impressions is character. 

16. Character exhibits itself in conduct, guided and 
inspired by principle, integrity, and practical wisdom. 
In its highest form, it is the individual will acting ener- 
getically under the influence of religion, morality, and 
reason. It chooses its way considerately, and pursues it 
steadfastly; esteeming duty above reputation, and the 
approval of conscience more than the world's praise. 

17. Every circumstance, however trivial, that in 
any way affects the mind, leaves its mark. Infinitely 
small they may be, imperceptible in themselves, but the 
sum of all these marks is precisely what is called char- 
acter, which is thus in itself a history of the entire pre- 
vious life of the individual. Character is therefore con- 
tinually growing, continually in a state of change. 

18. Character in a woman, as in a man, will always 
be found the best safeguard of virtue. 

19. It is from the inborn dictates of conscience, and 
the inspired principle of duty, that the finest growths 
of character have arisen. 

20. Principles lived up to are what make char- 
acter. 

21. Just as a man prizes his character, so is he. 

22. Nothing can be so important to any man as 
the formation and possession of a good character. 

23. A good character is a precious thing, and the 
work of making it is the noblest labor on earth. 



3Q 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 2. Virtue. 

Virtue, our present peace, our future prize; 
Man's imprecarious, natural estate, 
Improvable at will, in virtue lies; 
Its tenure sure; its income is divine. — Young. 

i. When virtue has become a daily habit you be- 
come possessed of an individual character, prepared for 
fulfilling, in a great measure, the end for which you were 
created. 

2. You are not only justified, but bound in duty, to 
aim at reaching the highest standard of character : not 
to become the richest in means, but in spirit; not the 
greatest in worldly position, but in true honor; not the 
most intellectual, but the most virtuous ; not the most 
powerful, but the most truthful, upright and honest. 

3. The virtues of a man ought to be measured, not 
by his extraordinary actions, but by his everyday con- 
duct. 

4. Laws of moral conduct are not dependent upon 
any person's caprice, whim, or fancy, but are the conse- 
quence of the great facts of the nature of man living in 
society. 

5. The path of virtue is closed to no one, it lies 
open to all ; it admits and invites all ; it requires no quali- 
fications of family, or property ; it is satisfied with a mere 
man. 

6. Virtue consists in doing your duty in the sev- 
eral relations you sustain, in respect to yourself, to your 
fellow-men, and to God. 

7. Gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnest- 
ness, and kindness, constitute perfect virtue. 

8. Virtue is not mere innocence in abstaining from 
harm ; but it is also the exertion of your faculties in doing 
good. 

9. Cloistered virtues do not count for much. 

10. Virtue has resources buried in itself, which you 
know not till the invading hour calls them from their 
retreats. 



3i 

ii. Good company and good conversation are the 
sinews of virtue. 

12. The advantage to be derived from virtue is so 
evident, that the wicked practice it from interested mo- 
tives. 

13. You cannot purchase your virtue too dear, for 
it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with 
the price it has cost you. 

14. Do not consider any vice as trivial, and there- 
fore practice it ; do not consider any virtue as unimport- 
ant, and therefore neglect it. 

15. Sincerely to aspire after virtue is to gain her, 
and zealously to labor after her wages is to receive them. 
Those who seek her early will find her before it is 
late ; her reward also is with her, and she will come 
quickly. 

16. In moral application a virtue is a quality in 
mankind whereby they are most advantaged, and where- 
by they gain the highest good. 

17. Virtue alone is true nobility. 

18. When poverty is your inheritance, virtue must 
be your capital. 

19. A man may be virtuous, though not wealthy; 
and fortune, which prevents his being rich, cannot pre- 
vent his being happy. 

20. Men are equal ; it is not birth, it is virtue alone 
that makes them differ. 

21. Let love permeate everything and all the other 
virtues will grow out of it, as flowers spring from the 
soil. 

22. The virtue of prosperity is temperance, the vir- 
tue of adversity is fortitude, which in morals is the more 
heroical virtue. 

23. Courage, truth, justice, self-control, kindness, 
honesty, cheerfulness, courtesy — these are public duties 
quite irrelevant to any religious doctrine, and they should 
be taught to children on sound natural grounds, and are 
as easily provable as the simplest examples in arith- 
metic. 

24. The highest success is not living-making, 
money-making, nor fame-making, but character-making. 



32 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 3. Prudence. 

A valiant man 
Ought not to undergo, or tempt a danger, 
But worthily, and by selected ways. 
He undertakes with reason, not by chance. 

— Ben Johnson. 

i. The immediate and unhesitating choice of that 
which is beneficial and harmless, in preference to that 
which is pleasant and hurtful, if exercised in childhood, 
will result in after life in an unhesitating choice between 
that which makes you good, and great, and rich, and 
happy, instead of that which makes you bad, and small, 
and poor, and miserable. 

2. Prudence is practical wisdom, and comes of the 
cultivated judgment. It has reference in all things to 
fitness, and to propriety: judging wisely of the right 
thing to be done, and the right way to do it. It calcu- 
lates the means, order, time, and method of doing. Pru- 
dence learns from experience, quickened by knowledge. 

3. Prudence should be learned at as early an age 
as possible. It is one of the most valuable traits a child 
can acquire, and if manifested early and cultivated, will 
prove a never-ending source of profit to its possessor. 

4. Prudence grows very slowly, and seldom flowers 
freely before manhood. 

5. Prudence, if not always a proof of virtue, is a 
staunch protector of it. 

6. Prudence promotes your safety, by teaching you 
to use all reasonable precautions against positive evils. 

7. Those who are not careful about their words, 
and even their thoughts, will soon grow careless con- 
cerning their more notable actions. 

8. Make sure that what is to be done ought to be 
done, and do not do what you may regret. 

9. Prudence is wisdom applied in practice. 

10. The only way of being prepared for the sudden 
accidents of life is to think seriously upon such subjects 
whenever presented. 



33 

ii. A wise man takes a step at a time; he estab- 
lishes one foot before he takes up the other ; an old place 
should not be forsaken recklessly. 

12. Prudence in woman should be an instinct, not a 
virtue. 

13. To excel others is a proof of talent, but to know 
when to conceal that superiority is a greater proof of 
prudence. 

14. Your wit makes clear things doubtful ; but it is 
your prudence that makes doubtful things clear. 

15. Where there is no prudence there is no virtue. 

16. Prudence governs the wise. 

17. Children are wonderfully sagacious in detecting 
their natural friends and enemies. 

18. In private watch your thoughts; in your family 
watch your temper ; in society watch your tongue. 

19. The greatest parts, without discretion, may be 
fatal to their owner. 

20. Discretion of speech is more than eloquence. 

21. The world needs discretion as well as zeal; 
although the latter generally usurps all the honors and 
glories, the former does a great deal the more good. 

22. Any sign of want of principle should make you 
draw back at once from intimacy or even acquaintance. 

23. It is better to prevent a calamity beforehand 
than to mend it afterward. 

24. Think much, speak little, and write with care. 

25. He who is most slow in making a promise is 
the most faithful in its performance. 

. 26. To save in youth is to live comfortably in old 
age. 

27. People who spend all they earn are ever hang- 
ing on the brink of destitution. It is impossible that 
they can be free and independent. To be thriftless is 
enough to deprive you of all manly spirit and vigor. 

28. It is the nature of every creature to pursue the 
good and avoid the evil ; and hold every man an enemy, 
even though a brother, son or father, that takes away 
the one and brings the other. 

29. Unwarrantable haste is the direct road to er- 
ror. 



34 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 4. Justice. 

Of every noble action, the intent 

Is to give worth reward — vice punishment. 

— Beaumont and Fletcher. 

i. The sense of right from wrong is .innate, and 
every human being is conscious of every wrong deed he 
commits, though his moral nature may be so blunted 
that he feels no hesitation in doing it. 

2. The scales of justice hang in every heart. 

3. Justice stands for strength in character. It is 
the framework of manhood. 

4. The sense of justice develops very early, and 
may be used as a basis for a large range of conduct. 

5. The recognition of the rights of others is justice, 
and comes easily to the child. 

6. You must be in love with truth and right; with 
truth for its own sake, and with right for its own sake ; 
must have the welfare of others at heart ; otherwise con- 
duct will often be guided by considerations that are not 
ultimately moral and ethical, and all lines of conduct that 
are based upon motives which are not just and true will 
ultimately fail, and cannot lead to success, either for you 
or for others. 

7. When the sense of justice is outraged, be the 
cause ever so trivial, a feeling of distrust is generated, 
and an incipient hatred against the person who may have 
provoked the unjust decision. 

8. You must have no partiality, but give to every 
one his due ; each according to his deserts, and not ac- 
cording to your own particular feelings. 

9. On every occasion your decisions are to be reg- 
ulated, not by the person, but by the cause. 

10. Impartiality is the life of justice, as justice is of 
all good government. 

11. A reputation for impartiality is of great value. 

12. Justice never looks to see who is in the scales 
before she strikes the balance. King or beggar, it is all 
the same. 



35 

13. When you pronounce judgment show justice 
although it be for or against one who is near of kin, or 
yourself. 

14. One law and one manner shall be for you and 
for the stranger that sojourns with you. 

15. Everything is right that tends to the happiness 
of mankind, and everything is wrong that increases the 
sum of human misery. 

16. It is important, above everything else, that you 
be right, and do right, whether your motives and actions 
are properly understood or not. 

17. Base all your actions upon a principle of right; 
preserve your integrity of character; and, in doing this, 
never reckon the cost. 

18. Right and justice cannot be suppressed. 

19. Command that which is just and forbid that 
which is unjust. 

20. If you wish your efforts to succeed it is indis- 
pensable that all your acts conform to the laws of right 
and justice, succeeding not only in conquering your ene- 
mies, but in conquering your own evil passions. 

21. The greatest man is he who chooses right with 
the most invincible determination. 

22. Nothing is settled until it is settled right. 

23. Without justice there can be neither love, con- 
fidence, nor respect, on which all true domestic rule is 
founded. 

24. Justice commands you to have mercy on all 
men, to consult for the interests of mankind, to give 
everyone his due, not to commit sacrilege, and not to 
covet the goods of others. 

25. Might does not make right. 

26. Observe justice when you appear as witnesses 
before God, and let not hatred towards any one induce 
you to do wrong, but act justly. 

27. Whenever it is possible, a wrong act should be 
undone by a right one. 

28. The grand secret of never failing manner and 
culture is to have an intention of always doing right. 

29. He that is unjust in least, is also unjust in 
much. 



36 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 5. Courage. 

The brave man is not he who feels no fear, 

For that were stupid and irrational; 

But he, whose noble soul its fear subdues, 

And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from. 

— Joanna Baillie. 

1. True courage is a combination of moral and phy- 
sical qualities, so blended as to secure the noblest char- 
acter. 

2. Physical courage, which despises all danger, will 
make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which 
despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another. 
The former would seem the more necessary for the camp, 
the latter for the council ; but to constitute a great man, 
both are necessary. 

3. It is moral courage which characterizes the high- 
est order of manhood and womanhood — the courage to 
seek and speak the truth ; the courage to be just ; the 
courage to be honest; the courage to resist temptation; 
the courage to do your duty. 

4. It is moral heroism that should be especially 
commended. This belongs to the noblest type of man- 
hood. 

5. Fear falls upon the earth and prays, courage 
stands erect and thinks. Fear retreats, courage ad- 
vances. Fear is barbarism, courage is civilization. 

6. It takes courage to do your duty in silence and 
obscurity, while others prosper and grow famous al- 
though neglecting sacred obligations. 

7. Courage is as necessary as integrity in the per- 
formance of duty. 

8. If men and women do not possess the virtue of 
courage, they have no security whatever for the preserva- 
tion of any other. 

9. The greater part of the courage that is needed 
in the world is not of a heroic kind. Courage may be 
dislplayed in every day life as well as on historic fields of 
action. 

10. The courage of woman is not the less true be- 
cause it is for the most part passive. It is not encour- 



37 

aged by the cheers of the world, for it is mostly exhibit- 
ed in the recesses of private life. 

11. That moral heroism is often greatest of which 
the world says least, and which is exercised in the humb- 
lest spheres, and in circles the most unnoticed. 

12. The spirit of courage will transform the whole 
temper of your life. 

13. A pure conscience, a clear, intelligent mind, and 
a strong body, are necessary to the highest form of cour- 
ageous manhood. 

14. The courage that goes on and never doubts suc- 
cess, is the courage worth having. 

15. Manly courage is dignified and graceful. 

16. The true test of courage is, in all circumstances, 
to dare to do right. 

17. The utmost tenderness and gentleness are con- 
sistent with courage. 

18. Courage without wisdom is mere boldness, and 
there is a bad boldness that defeats itself. 

19. The man who fully understands the dangers 
he confronts, and goes boldly forward to meet them, is 
the true hero, the ideal soldier. 

20. A really brave man never exposes himself need- 
lessly to danger, and if unhappily entrapped in a quarrel, 
he will always refuse to fight until compelled in self-de- 
fense. 

21. A brave man will suffer insult and indignity, 
permit himself to be called hard names and to be mis- 
represented, rather than allow hatred and murder to en- 
terinVheart, or do that which in his calmer moments he 
would abhor. 

22. A good cause makes a courageous heart. 

23. People believe in the youth who has courage, 
who dares to take a stand for himself, even at the risk of 
his reputation, who dares to hazard something in order 
to succeed. 

24. Conquer your place in the world, for all things 
serve a brave soul. 

25. Men who have dared have moved the world, 
often before reaching the prime of life. 

26. Heroic deeds are contagious, and noble lives 
have a far-reaching influence. 



38 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 6. Temperance. 

Temp'rate in every place — abroad, at home, 
Thence will applause, and hence will profit come; 
And health from either — he in time prepares 
For sickness, age, and their attendant cares. — Crabbe. 

1. From the earliest records and traditions of the 
existence of mankind you will find that those people who 
have been industrious, economical, prudent, and temper- 
ate, have been prosperous, happy, and strong. 

2. Practice strict temperance ; and, in all your 
transactions, remember the final account. 

3. Eat not to dullness ; drink not to elevation. 

4. Intemperance can do you as much harm exer- 
cised in over-work or excessive play, as by over-indulging 
the appetite. 

5. Passion is intemperance ; so is caprice. 

6. The great danger to the body is on the side of 
self-indulgence. 

7. Liberal, not lavish, is nature's hand. 

8. Virtue, or wise action, lies in the mean between 
the two extremes of too little and too much. 

9. All have appetites and passions common to hu- 
manity. These should be your servants, the driving- 
wheels of your higher nature, — but never your masters. 

10. Nothing reflects greater lustre upon a man than 
a severe temperance, and a restraint of himself for vicious 
pleasures. 

11. Those are the strongest men, not who the most 
wantonly indulge, but who the most carefully curb their 
activities. 

12. A good man not only forbears those gratifica- 
tions which are forbidden by reason and religion, but 
even restrains himself in unforbidden instances. 

13. No one can live a gormandizing, sordid, or licen- 
tious life, and still wear a countenance hallowed and sanc- 
tified with a halo of peace and joy. 

14. Temperance gives nature her full play and en- 
ables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor. 



39 

15. He that is moderate in his wishes, from reason 
and choice, and not resigned from sourness, distaste, or 
disappointment, doubles all the pleasures of his life. 

16. It is continued temperance which sustains the 
body for the longest period of time, and which most sure- 
ly preserves it free from sickness. 

17. Be sober and temperate and you will be healthy. 

18. Instead of trying to do all that can be done in a 
very short time, you should lay your plans, and make 
your calculations to live long, and for many years be im- 
proving and ripening for usefulness. 

19. To live long it is neccessary to live temperately. 

20. The cost of enjoyment in age is abstemious- 
ness in youth. 

21. It is the part of a wise man to keep himself to- 
day for tomorrow. 

22. He that buys what he does not want will soon 
want what he cannot buy. 

23. Society suffers far more from waste of money 
than from want of money. 

24. You can have comfort without being untidy, 
beauty without extravagance. 

25. He that is extravagant will quickly become 
poor, and poverty will enforce dependence and invite cor- 
ruption. 

26. Comfort and independence abide with those 
who can postpone their desires. 

2J. The less you desire the happier you shall be. 

28. An infallible way to make a child miserable is 
to satisfy all his wants. 

29. So apportion your wants that your means may 
exceed them. 

30. The temperate man is not mastered by his 
moods ; he will not be driven or enticed into excess ; his 
steadfast will conquers despondency, and is not unbal- 
anced by transient exhilarations, for ecstasy is as fatal 
as despair. 

31. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so 
much as you think they deserve. 

32. Let no other man's vice be your evil. 



40 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 7. Purity. 

No life 
Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife, 
And all life not be purer and stronger thereby. 

— Owen Meredith. 

i. An absolute surrender, consecration and devo- 
tion of self to all that is better and purer and truer, is 
the secret of character building. 

2. To be pure in heart, to possess a warm and 
broad sympathy, is to be worthy of the highest attain- 
ments in life — and to place yourself in a fair way to get 
them. 

3. From a pure heart proceeds the fruit of a good 
life. 

4. Purity and chasteness of language tend to pre- 
serve purity and chasteness of thought and of taste ; 
they repel licentious imaginings ; they delight in the 
unsullied and the untainted, and all their tendencies are 
on the side of virtue. 

5. Your moral character must be not only pure 
but unspotted. The least speck or blemish upon it is 
fatal. 

6. There is no doubt that a persistent virtuous life 
does weaken the hold of the lower appetites and pas- 
sions. 

7. There is never an hour when the man of tried 
virtue and steady sobriety of habits is not more in 
demand in all the real business of life than his dissolute 
neighbor, however gay and fascinating. 

8. The influence of your pure associates will be 
wafted to you through the days to come, and you will 
be better men and women for having known them. 

9. Woman has the right to demand that man live 
as chaste a life as she does or take the consequences. 

10. It would be loosening the foundations of virtue 
to countenance the notion that, because of a difference 
of sex, men were at liberty to set morality at defiance, 
and do that with impunity which, if done by a woman, 
would stain her character for life. 



41 

ii. A pure womanhood must be accompanied by a 
pure manhood. The same moral law applies to both. 

12. To maintain a high standard of purity in 
society, the culture of both sexes must be in harmony, 
and keep equal pace. 

13. Man is no purer or better than woman requires 
him to be. 

14. If a young woman deport herself correctly she 
will never receive an insult. 

15. Respect the purity of childhood, and let the 
presence of youth be a reason for restraint in open sin. 

16. By exercising a watchfulness over the thoughts, 
purity of heart and mind becomes habitual, and the char- 
acter is built up in chastity, virtue, and temperance. 

17. Hold in esteem those qualities of moral purity 
and integrity without which life is but a scene of folly 
and misery. 

18. To dread no eye, and to suspect no tongue, is 
the great prerogative of innocence : an exemption 
granted only invariable virtue. Guilt has always its 
horrors and solicitudes ; and, to make it yet more shame- 
ful and detestable, it is doomed often to stand in awe 
of those to whom nothing could give influence or weight, 
but their power of betraying. 

19. It is not possible to rear a kindly nature, sensi- 
tive to evil, pure in mind and heart, amidst coarseness, 
discomfort and impurity. 

20. If you make a fortune let every dollar of it be 
clean. 

21. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto 
them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure. 

22. So long as you are innocent fear nothing. 

23. Purity always ripens to discretion. 

24. A heart unspottea is not easily daunted. 

25. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes or 
habitation. 

26. The coarse, brutal instincts, when developed, 
stifle all the finer sentiments of the mind. They dull 
the ideal, and crush out the gentler and finer qualities 
which unite the human with the divine. 



42 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 8. Passion. 

The ruling passion, be it what it will, 

The ruling passion conquers reason still. — Pope. 

1. When passion is on the throne, reason is out of 
doors. 

2. The fumes of passion do as really intoxicate and 
confound the judging and discerning faculties as the 
fumes of drink discompose and stupefy the brain of a 
man overcharged with it. 

3. Passion swells by gratification. 

4. Your passions are your infirmities. 

5. Of all passions fear is the most accursed. 

6. Anger is pure waste of vitality; is always fool- 
ish and always disgraceful, except in rare cases, when 
it is kindled by seeing wrong done to another; but even 
then, noble rage seldom mends the matter. 

7. There is no other passion that so much trans- 
ports men from their right judgment as anger. 

8. Anger, indignation, resentment, wrath, ire, rage 
and fury, are all more frequently more hurtful to the 
person exhibiting them than to the one toward whom 
they are displayed. 

9. Do not speak while you feel the impulse of 
anger, for you will be almost certain to say too much — 
to say more than your cooler judgment will approve — 
and to speak in a way that you will regret. 

10. A single angry word has lost many a friend. 

11. Anger begins with folly and ends with repent- 
ance. 

12. He is a fool who cannot be angry, but he is a 
wise man who will not. 

13. Anger, like too much wine, hides you from 
yourself, but exposes you to others. 

14. A strong temper is not necessarily a bad tem- 
per. But the stronger the temper, the greater is the 
need of self-discipline and self-control. 

15. Guard your temper, especially in seasons of 
ill-health, irritation and trouble. 



43 

16. On no part of the character has education more 
influence than on temper, the due regulation of which 
is an object of great importance to the enjoyment of 
life. 

17. Temper is subject to reason and conscience. 

18. Instances are very rare in which people of 
irascible temper live to extreme old age. 

19. It has been said that men succeed in life quite 
as much by their temper as by their talents. 

20. Temper has ruined many a man. 

21. Temper should be absolutely controlled in 
public and in private life. There is nothing else that 
will cause such a waste of the vital tissues as anger. 

22. Temper, if ungoverned, governs the whole 
man. 

23. A great deal of unhappiness results from the 
quickness of people to take offense when none is 
intended. Such a living is a strain on both parties, the 
offended and the offender alike. 

24. On every occasion that leads to vexation apply 
this principle : It is not a misfortune, but to bear it nobly 
is good fortune. 

25. The best way of avenging yourself is not to 
become like the wrong-doer. 

26. There is a better way of settling quarrels than 
by resentment and retaliation. 

27. It is difficult for a quarrel to continue long 
without opposing agents. 

28. Rage is essentially vulgar, and never vulgarer 
than when it proceeds from mortified pride, disappointed 
ambition, or thwarted wilfulness. 

29. While it injures your reputation to be harsh 
and unforgiving, a far greater injury still is inflicted upon 
the inward life, for with the spirit of revenge and malice 
rankling in the breast, there can be no such thing as 
happiness. 

30. There are times and occasions when the expres- 
sion of indignation is not only justifiable but necessary. 

31. Reprove in kindness, not in anger, if you would 
gain the great end of reproof. 



44 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 9. Thought. 

A pointing hand along life's way, 

A dear companion through the day; 

A friend who willingly takes flight 

When sweet oblivion shrouds the night; 

A guard, a guide, by all men sought, 

For all that is, is born of thought.— Anon. 

1. A man's character is formed by the nature of 
his thoughts. 

2. Thought is the crucible in which the golden ore 
of knowledge is melted and refined. It is the digestive 
apparatus of the intellectual organism, converting the 
mental food you consume into the flesh and blood of 
intellectual attainments. Without it, all knowledge is 
absolutely worthless. 

3. Character develops by the pressure of moral 
opinions and current thoughts. One single hint or new 
idea may actually influence an entire character. 

4. Thinking leads to knowledge. You may see and 
hear, and read and learn, as much as you please ; you 
will never know any of it, except that which you have 
thought over, and which by thinking over you have 
made the property of your mind. 

5. If you think well, you shall speak well and act 
well. 

6. All great achievements have been the result, not 
so much of knowledge, as of thought. 

7. Thought governs action, and he who governs 
thought is master of destiny. 

8. The imagination must be kept pure or the gate 
is opened to the enemy. Thoughts are the seeds of acts. 

9. Life takes its hues in a great degree from the 
color of your own mind. 

10. Be careful to nurse every holy thought or 
desire that rises within you. Give attention to every 
holy appetite. 

11. In order that your thoughts may be what you 
would have them, you must carefully select your mental 
food. 



45 

12. A man puts his soul to school, his thoughts are 
his teachers, or rather they are the school books in 
which his soul reads. 

13. All useful and beautiful thoughts are the issue 
of labor, of study, of observation, of research, of diligent 
elaboration. 

14. Healthy thoughts are as essential to healthy 
bodies as pure thoughts to a clean life. 

15. Thoughts are the flowers from which you must 
distill the essential flavoring of life. 

16. It is the repression of good thoughts which 
makes bad men and women. 

17. Keep your heads and hearts full of good 
thoughts, that bad thoughts may find no room to enter. 

18. Evil thoughts, though hidden, color the actions 
when intended to be good, cause distrust, and often do 
as much damage as though put into execution. 

19. Evil thoughts are worse enemies than lions 
and tigers, for you can keep out of the way of wild 
beasts, but bad thoughts win their way everywhere. 

20. When the mind is not healthily employed, it 
seeks unhealthy employment ; it is never idle. 

21. He who stores his mind with what is trivial, 
vulgar or base, will find it impossible to think of that 
which is noble or sublime. 

2.2. You cannot take a bad thought into your mind 
without putting yourself in danger. 

23. No evil thought can dwell and breed in the 
human heart unless its presence is tolerated and encour- 
aged. 

24. A good man out of the good treasures of his 
heart brings forth that which is good ; and an evil man 
out of the evil treasures of his heart brings forth that 
which is evil ; for out of the abundance of the heart the 
mouth speaks. 

25. Teach children that they lead these two lives : 
the life without, and the life within ; and that the inside 
must be as pure in the sight of God as the outside is in 
the sight of men. 

26. A thought commences with an impression, 
strengthens to an idea, grows to a purpose, and culmi- 
nates in action. 



46 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 10. Habit. 

All habit gathers, by unseen degrees, 

As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas. — Dry den. 

1. The best support of character will always be 
found in habit, which, according as the will is directed 
rightly or wrongly, as the case may be, will prove either 
a benignant ruler or a cruel despot. 

2. Repeated acts, one following another, at length 
become consolidated in habit, determine the action of the 
human being for good or for evil, and, in a word, form 
the character. 

3. Man becomes a slave to his constantly repeated 
acts. In spite of the protests of his weakened will the 
trained nerves continue to repeat the acts even when 
the doer abhors them. What he at first chooses at last 
compels. 

4. Habit is a cable ; you weave a thread every day, 
and at last you cannot break it. 

5. Habit determines almost infallibly what a man 
shall do in any given situation; it determines with pos- 
itive certainty what his first unthinking impulse shall be. 

6. Character is merely the effect of your habits, 
and if your daily habits are not the very best of which 
you are capable, then your character cannot be strong 
and noble. 

7. Infinite good comes from good habits, which 
must result from the common influence of example, 
intercourse, knowlege, and actual experience — morality 
taught by good morals. 

8. A habit may be either good or bad according to 
whether you rule it or it rules you. 

9. The first instruction for youth consists in hab- 
its, not in reasonings ; in examples rather than in direct 
lessons. 

10. The education of a young man or a young 
woman is, in a few words, embraced in the power of 
habit. 



47 

11. The propensities of habit are as teachable as 
anything else, and are very essential to happiness. 

12. Many a youth has been hampered because of 
peculiarities which he has allowed to creep into his per- 
sonality of manner, which, if realized by himself, might 
easily have been pruned and trained, had he only been 
taught the secret of habit forming. 

13. The habits formed in boyhood characterize the 
man. 

14. The chains of habit are generally too small to 
be felt until they are too strong to be broken. 

15. If evil thoughts and habits once get lodged in 
your heart and life, it will cost a terrible struggle to free 
yourself from their control. 

16. Habits, good or bad, that have been lost sight 
of for years, will spring into a new life to aid or injure 
you at some critical moment. 

17. Precision, and the practice of the utmost cour- 
tesy of manner, induce habits which become perma- 
nent. 

18. It is a beautiful arrangement in the mental 
and moral economy of your nature, that that which is 
performed as a duty, may, by frequent repetitions, 
become a habit ; and the habit of stern virtue may hang 
around your neck like a wreath of flowers. 

19. Habit and training make the difference between 
the gentleman and the boor ; and habit is made up of the 
ten thousand little acts, small expressions and trivial 
affairs which eventually become autocratic, and result 
in sweetness of demeanor or in the awkward and clumsy 
appearance of the untrained and ill-taught person. 

20. To create and maintain that vigor of mind 
which is able to contest the empire of habit, may be 
regarded as one of the chief ends of moral discipline. 

21. Habit is induced by environment and ideals, or 
what is around and before you, the choice of both being 
largely under your control. 

22. That which most easily becomes a habit is the 
exercise of the will. 

23. Deep in the very nature of animate existence 
is that principle of facility and inclination, acquired by 
repetition, called habit. 



4 8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 11. Association. 

In companions 
That do converse and waste the time together, 
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love, 
There must needs be a like proportion 
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit. — Shakespeare. 

1. Companionship is education, good or bad. It 
develops manhood, high or low; it lifts the soul upward 
or drags it downward ; it ministers to virtue or to vice. 

2. Let your company be always, where possible, 
better than yourself; and when you have the misfortune 
to move amongst your inferiors, bear in mind this 
seriously, that if you do not seize the apt occasion to 
draw them up to your level — which requires wisdom as 
well as love — they will certainly not be slow to drag you 
down to theirs. 

3. There are few situations in life where you may 
not have some power of choosing your companions ; and 
remember that moral contagion, like the infectious 
power of physical disease, borrows half its strength 
from the weakness of the subject with which it comes 
in contact. 

4. Morality and vice are both acquired through 
association and observation. 

5. Companionship with the wise and energetic 
never fails to have a most valuable influence on the 
formation of character — increasing your resources, 
elevating your aims, and enabling you to exercise 
greater dexterity and ability in your own affairs, as well 
as more effective helpfulness of others. 

6. The whole of your life depends upon the people 
with whom you live familiarly. 

7. It is impossible that association with those 
about you should not produce a powerful influence in 
the formation of your character. 

8. More of that which may most properly be called 
culture, wisdom or unwisdom, morality or immorality, 
refinement or vulgarity, chastity or unchastity, is 



49 

absorbed from habitual associates, than in any other way 
or in all other ways put together. 

9. All go to school to one another, and you are 
constantly learning from your companions. You catch 
their peculiarities and ways. You get into their habits 
of thought and action. You set them up as your ideals, 
and what they are, you try to become. 

10. The good is as easily and deeply absorbed as 
the bad ; evil companionship does no more for your 
down-pulling than good companionship does for your 
upbuilding. 

11. If you cannot always avoid the contagion of 
low company, you may at all events ban yourself from 
voluntarily marching into it. 

12. You will never forget your companionships nor 
will you ever be free from the influence and example of 
your associates. 

13. Not many companions does a young man or a y 
young woman need, but such as they do have should be 
the best. 

14. Girls, be very careful to choose well your male 
friends. 

15. Nothing is of greater importance than the 
companionship permitted to young girls. 

16. Do not think that you can associate habitually 
with the impure and at the same time preserve your 
purity. 

17. There is no reason why young men should not 
be just as virtuous as young women, and if the loss of 
their society and love be the price they are forced to pay 
for vice, they would not pay it. 

18. A man in morals, manners and character, is 
known by the company he keeps. 

19. The best company is that which is the most 
improving and entertaining. If you can neither receive 
nor bestow benefit, leave that company at once. 

20. It is easier to sink to the level of evil compan- 
ions than to raise them : encourage them to better ways, 
but avoid contamination. 

21. No matter how sly, how secret, no matter if 
your associations have been in the dark, their images 
will sooner or later appear in your face and conduct. 



5o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IV. Part 12. Individuality. 

How happy is he born and taught, 

That serveth not another's will; 

Whose armor is his honest thought, 

And simple truth his utmost skill. — Wotton. 

1. Every man is bound to develop his individuality, 
to endeavor to find the right way of life, and to walk in 
it. You have the will to do so : the power to be yourself 
and not the echo of somebody else, nor the reflection of 
lower conditions, nor the spirit of current conventions. 

2. Individuality must be upheld; for without indi- 
viduality there can be no liberty. Individuality is 
everywhere to be spared and respected, as the root of 
everything good. 

3. Individuality is the same thing with develop- 
ment, and it is only the cultivation of individuality which 
produces, or can produce, well-developed human beings. 

4. In proportion to the development of your indi- 
viduality, you become more valuable to yourself, and 
are therefore capable of being more valuable to others. 

5. By the influence of early impressions, the force 
of example, and the power of habit, the character 
becomes slowly and imperceptibly, but at length decid- 
edly formed ; the individual acquires those traits and 
qualities by which he is distinguished, and which bear 
directly upon his happiness and welfare. 

6. It is energetic individualism which produces the 
most powerful effect upon the life and actions of others, 
and really constitutes the best practical education. 

7. As human progress is made by individual effort, 
it behooves all persons to labor and study for them- 
selves, regardless of what this or that man says. 

8. While the mind should be filled with literature, 
history, science and art, the main object of knowledge 
should be directed to the individual purpose in life, and 
everything made tributary to this purpose. 

9. Although the force of example will always 
exercise great influence upon the formation of character, 
the self-originating and sustaining force of your own 



5i 

spirit must be the main stay. This alone can hold up 
the life, and give individual independence and energy. 

10. The highest aim of life is to offer that contribu- 
tion which you, as an individual, are peculiarly fitted to 
make toward the attainment of the public ends of man- 
kind. When living only for yourself, absorbed in your 
private pleasures and pains, you are a creature of little 
worth ; but when you become the organ of humanity, 
you acquire a lasting worth, and your individuality pos- 
sesses an inviolable sanctity. 

ii. The man who dares to think for himself and 
act independently, does a service to his race. 

12. As the world always makes way for the man 
with a will, so it always listens to an independent thinker. 

13. He only is independent in action who has been 
earnest and thorough in preparation and self-culture. 

14. The spirit of independence is not merely a 
jealousy of your own particular rights, but a respect for 
the rights of others. 

15. Each man has his special duty to perform, his 
special work to do. If he does it not, he himself suffers, 
and others suffers through him. 

16. Every man stamps his own value upon himself, 
and you are great or little according to your own will. 

17. Personality has more than any other single 
element to do with success or failure in your under- 
takings. 

18. You must rule out from all your thoughts of 
moral law the notion that you have more rights than 
other persons have, or that you have fewer duties. 

19. You are not so important a person as you 
think, and the sooner you learn this, the better it will 
be for all concerned. 

20. The same characteristics that are prominent in 
the boy will show themselves in the man. 

21. Whether you know the moral law or not, you 
suffer bad consequences from not living in compliance 
with its demands, or you prosper because you are acting 
in accordance with it. 



52 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 1. Manhood. 

A glorious company, the flower of men, 

To serve a model for the mighty world, 

And be the fair beginning of a time. — Tennyson. 

1. When the elements of character are brought into 
action by determinate will, and influenced by high pur- 
pose, man enters on and courageously perseveres in 
the path of duty. At whatever cost of worldly interest, 
he may be said to approach the summit of his being. 
He then exhibits character in its most intrepid form, 
and embodies the highest idea of manliness. 

2. The first requisite of all education and discipline 
should be manliness. 

3. He who regards manhood and character as the 
supreme objects of life may not be rich in money, but 
he is rich in a truer and better sense; for manhood is 
above all riches and overtops all titles, and character is 
greater than any career. 

4. Strong in purpose and strong in action ; strong 
within and strong without ; strong against foes that are 
seen and strong against foes that are unseen ; all the way 
up and all the way down ; all the way around and all the 
way through ; first, last, and always — strong. It needs 
neither title nor crown to argue the imperial majesty of 
such manhood. 

5. True manhood is imperial. It does not need 
the rite of coronation, for it is crowned already. Its 
majesty is supreme in all lands, all ages, all worlds. 

6. Back of attainments and achievements, deep 
down beneath graces and gifts, back of cunning hand 
and eloquent tongue and sagacious thought — lies the 
make-up of the man, the character; and the make-up of 
manhood determines its measures. 

7. The best things in manhood are not those 
reserved for the elect few, but level to the reach of all. 

8. Manhood is as strong as it is gentle, and as 
gentle as it is strong. 

9. Manhood and strength are synonymous, for 
strength is the glory of manhood. 



53 

io. In material wealth and the splendors of an 
ornate civilization, the world is rich enough ; but the 
need abides for simple, unadorned, unpurchasable, incor- 
ruptible, royal manhood. 

11. The great thing is to be a man; to have a high 
purpose, a noble aim, to be dead in earnest, to yearn 
for the good and the true. 

12. Everywhere, and under almost all circumstan- 
ces, however externally adverse, the true man may 
grow. 

13. Always be conscious that you are a man, and 
that you are expected to live up to the best that is in 
you. 

14. Manhood's truest glory lies in contending with 
and overcoming that which is hard. 

15. Through discipline, education and experience, 
the child is developed in hardy mental, moral and 
physical manhood. 

16. Truthfulness is the manliest of virtues and the 
very basis of all true manhood. 

17. The worst of youthful indiscretions are, not 
that they destroy health so much as that they sully man- 
hood. 

18. Service will decide the dignity and determine 
the worth of manhood. 

19. True manhood will not lose its individuality in 
a crowd, but has always the courage of its convictions, 
and is not afraid to say no though all the world say yes. 

20. Firmness and decision, after due thought and 
inquiry, are inseparable from any conception of manli- 
ness. 

21. When a man is upright and pure and generous, 
he is also intelligent and skillful and strong and brave, 

22. It matters not how much money a man may 
have, if he is possessed of a good character, respect- 
abilty, and the sterling qualities of manhood. 

23. The measure of manhood is the degree of skill 
attained in the art of carrying yourself so as to pour 
forth on all men the inspirations of love and hope, and 
to evoke good even from the meanest and wickedest 
of mankind. 



54 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 2. Truth. 

Truth crushed to earth shall rise again; 

The eternal years of God are hers; 
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, 

And dies among his worshipers. 

— William Cullen Bryant. 

1. Truth alone may not constitute a great man, 
but it is the most important element of a great character. 
It gives security to those who employ you and those 
who serve under you. 

2. Truth is a virtue without which force is 
enfeebled, justice corrupted, honesty becomes dissimula- 
tion, patience intolerable, chastity a dissembler, liberty 
lost, and pity superfluous. 

3. Truth is the foundation of all knowledge, and 
the cement of all societies. 

4. Truth is the light of the earth, the pedestal of 
justice, and the basis of good policy. 

5. Truth — the open, bold, honest truth — is always 
safest, for anyone, in any and all circumstances. 

6. Truth is the essence of principle, integrity, and 
independence. It is the primary need of man. 

7. Truth is the quality, more than any other, that 
commands the esteem and respect, and secures the con- 
fidence of others. 

8. Truth is necessary to permanency. 

9. Truth exhibits itself in action. 

10. Truthfulness is at the foundation of all per- 
sonal excellences. 

11. Truth is simple, requiring neither study nor 
art. 

12. Truth and reality stand for the same thing. 
Reality is truth out of the mind, and truth is reality in 
the mind. 

13. Truth, latent in the mind, is hidden wisdom 
and invisible treasure. 

14. Truth can easily defend itself against all the 
ingenuity and cunning wisdom of men, and against the 
treacherous plots of all the world. 



55 

15. Inward truthfulness is a self-regarding duty; 
social truthfulness is a form of justice. The words you 
speak to your neighbor are used by him as building- 
stones in the architecture of his daily conduct. You 
have no right to defeat the purposes of his life, to 
weaken the dwelling he is erecting, by supplying him 
with worthless building material. 

16. Invite the operation of searching truths, for 
their keen edge will destroy nothing but that which 
would destroy you. 

17. The greatest friend of truth is time ; her great- 
est enemy is prejudice; and her constant companion is 
humility. 

18. Falsehood loses you the love and kindness of 
others; it inflicts injuries upon others; it severs you 
from the friendship of your associates ; it takes from you 
your self-respect; and it leads to bigger falsehoods and 
even crimes. 

19. There can be no excuse for lying; neither is 
there anything equally despicable and dangerous as a 
liar, no man being safe who associates with him. 

20. No consideration can justify the sacrifice of 
truth, which ought to be sovereign in all the relations of 
life. 

21. No one likes or trusts a person who tells lies. 
No one wants him for a friend. 

22. All flimsy, shallow, and superficial work, in 
fact is a lie, of which a man ought to be ashamed. 

23. There is nothing about which people generally 
are so sensitive as a doubt of their veracity. 

24. The firmest and noblest ground upon which 
people can live is truth ; the real with the real ; a ground 
on which nothing is assumed. 

25. You must indicate what is true if you mean to 
speak or write naturally, forcibly and delicately. 

26. Remember to tell the truth. If you do nothing 
naughty you will not be afraid to tell it, and if you 
do something wrong it makes it much worse to tell a lie 
about it. 

27. No pleasure is comparable to standing on the 
vantage ground of truth. 



56 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 3. Honesty. 

Man is his own star, and that soul that can 

Be honest is the only perfect man. — John Fletcher. 

1. An honest man is the noblest work of God. 

2. Honesty is uprightness, trustworthiness, and 
fidelity. It is sincerity of intention, candor of speech, 
and dutifulness of conduct. It is the absence of hypoc- 
racy, empty pretense, and that disgusting affectation 
which tries to pass for more than it is worth. 

3. Simple honesty of purpose goes a long way in 
life, if founded on a just estimate of yourself and a steady 
obedience to the rule you know and feel to be right. It 
holds you straight, gives you strength and sustenance, 
and forms a mainspring of vigorous action. 

4. Let your honesty be a law of your being, hon- 
ored for its own sake, not for expediency, else seeming 
advantage may outweigh resolution. 

5. Be honest in your inmost thoughts ; not as to 
money alone, but as to all things — your time, attention, 
interest, and universal consciousness. 

6. Honesty in thought, expression and deed, is 
essential to any success worth the name. 

7. The mass of men are undoubtedly honest. If 
it were not so the business of the world would stand 
still. 

8. All honest men want work, and all honest men 
should be provided with employment. 

9. Honesty ought to result from some higher sen- 
timent than a desire for your own welfare. 

10. No man is bound to be rich or great — no, nor 
to be wise ; but every man is bound to be honest. 

11. It pays any one to be honest in all walks of 
life. 

12. Honesty is the plainest and humblest manifes- 
tation of the principle of truth. 

13. Character, while respecting the personality of 
others, preserves its own individuality and independ- 
ence ; and has the courage to be morally honest, though 



57 

it may be unpopular ; trusting tranquilly to time and 
experience for recognition. 

14. Model your career upon a basis of absolute, 
undeviating honesty and you will not have to seek long 
for a place of trust. 

15. You must be absolutely honest with yourself. 

16. An honest man's word is as good as his bond. 

17. There is a dishonesty which does not stoop to 
steal, but which pretends to a faithful service while 
actually shirking work waiting to be done. 

18. All bad work is lying. It is thoroughly dis- 
honest. You pay for having work done well ; if it is done 
badly and dishonestly, you are robbed. 

19. Many a man has ruined his financial future by 
what he thought were insignificant lapses from honesty. 

20. An act must be either honest or dishonest 
without any qualification. 

21. There is only one grade of honesty. 

22. Never engage in any business unless you can 
be honest in it ; if it will not give a fair living without 
fraud, leave it, as you would the gate of death. 

23. An honest man will continue to be so, though 
surrounded on all sides by rogues. 

24. You ought not only to restore that which is 
unduly gotten, or unawares let slip by others, but to 
seek out how you may do right. You steal the thing 
you find, that you labor not to restore. 

25. The man who is honest as a mere matter of 
policy is, of course, not to be trusted, for he is liable at 
any time to think that his interests require him to be 
dishonest, and then there is nothing to hold him to the 
truth. 

26. You cannot be upright amid the various temp- 
tations of life unless you are honest for the right's 
sake. 

-27. Be frank and honest. Let your friends know 
that you can be depended on. 

28. An honest man has in his bosom a treasure of 
more real value than the wealth of nations. 

29. The law of frankness is the law of honesty, 
that is at once the foundation of character and crowns 
the structure with strength and beauty. 



58 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 4. Self. 

Whate'er the passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf, 

Not one will change his neighbor with himself. 

The learn' d is happy nature to explore, 

The fool is happy that he knows no more; 

The rich is happy in the plenty given, 

The poor contents him with the care of heaven. — Pope. 

i. Most important of all are the duties that you owe 
to yourself. These may be classed under three heads — 
physical, mental, and moral. 

2. You should look at yourself, as it were, in a mir- 
ror, where you can compare your own frailties with a 
perfect manhood. 

3. Nothing else is so important to man as the study 
and knowledge of himself. 

4. Destiny is not about you, but within — yourself 
must make yourself. 

5. After being just to yourself, your highest duty 
is the consideration of others. In this consideration, 
woman should have the first place. 

6. The kind of world you carry about in yourself is 
the important thing, and the world outside takes all its 
grace, color and value from that. 

7. No matter where you go, no matter who your 
ancestors were, what school or college you have attend- 
ed, or who helps you, your best opportunity is in your- 
self. The help you get from others is something outside 
of you, while it is what you are, what you do yourself, 
that counts. 

8. The best sort of character cannot be formed 
without effort. There needs the exercise of constant self- 
watchfulness, self-discipline, and self-control. There 
may be much faltering, stumbling, and temporary defeat, 
difficulties and temptations manifold to be battled with 
and overcome ; but if the spirit be strong, and the heart 
be upright, you need not despair of ultimate success. 

9. A due amount of self-knowledge is necessary for 
those who would be anything or do anything in the 
world. 



59 

io. Everyone is the artificer of his own fortune. 
n. Everyone must learn life for himself. 

12. Hold yourself responsible for a higher stand- 
ard than anybody else expects of you. 

13. You will find nothing in the world which you 
do not first find in yourself. 

14. Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, 
these alone lead life to sovereign power. 

15. Keep your personal standard high. 

16. Be a friend to yourself and others will. 

17. The greatest evils are found within you, and 
from yourself also you must look for your greatest good. 

18. A man should never despise himself, for bril- 
liant success never attends on the man who is contemn- 
ed by himself. 

19. Man in his weakness is the creature of cir- 
cumstances. Whether he be victim or victor depends 
largely on himself. 

20. Every defect in your life not only comes from a 
cause, but as a rule from some cause within yourself. 

21. When things go wrong, look for the blame in 
yourself ; in most cases you will look at exactly the right 
place. 

22. To yourself be true ; and it must follow, as the 
night the day, you can not then be false to any man. 

23. Success or failure, in a great measure, hinges 
on the knowledge you have of yourself. 

24. People seldom improve when they have no oth- 
er model but themselves to copy. 

25. Self-regard easily becomes self-love and self- 
adulation, and thus the most serious of ills. But the fact 
remains that each individual should understand his 
strength and his weakness, become thoroughly acquaint- 
ed with himself. 

26. No one can disgrace you but yourself. 

27. He who estimates his money the highest values 
himself the least. 

28. Self-respect and self-esteem are good qualities, 
but not self-righteousness, self-congratulation, self-de- 
preciation, or self-approbation. 



6o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 5. Self-Control. 

And free is he, and only he, 

Who, from his tyrant passions free, 

By fortune undismayed, 
Has power within himself to be 

By self obeyed. — Anon. 

1. In the supremacy of self-control, consists one of 
the perfections of the ideal man. Not to be impulsive — 
not to be spurred hither and thither by each desire that 
in turn comes uppermost — but to be self-restrained, self- 
balanced, governed by the joint decision of the feelings 
in council assembled, before whom every action shall 
have been fully debated and calmly determined — that it 
is which education, moral education at least, strives to 
produce. 

2. To acquire the art of properly commanding your- 
self in all circumstances — especially in the most trying 
emergencies, and at a moment of danger, when not a 
minute, perhaps not a second, should be lost — is as diffi- 
cult as it is important. 

3. To be morally free you must be able to resist in- 
stinctive impulse, and this can only be done by the exer- 
cise of self-control. It is this power which constitutes 
the real distinction between a physical and a moral life, 
and that forms the primary basis of individual character. 

4. To conquer yourself and to rise above the temp- 
tations of greed and passion, is as great a success as any 
man ever attained. 

5. Real glory springs from the conquest of your- 
self; and without that the conqueror is but the veriest 
slave. 

6. Self-control is only courage under another name. 
It may almost be regarded as the primary essence of 
character. 

7. It is not enough to have great qualities, you 
should also have the management of them. 

8. In the supremacy of self-control consists one of 
the perfections of the ideal man. 



6i 

9. He who would succeed must hold all his faculties 
under perfect control ; they must be disciplined, drilled, 
until they obey the will. 

10. The man who controls himself may hope to 
control other men. 

11. There is many a man whose tongue might gov- 
ern multitudes if he could only govern his tongue. 

12. A self-controlled mind is a free mind, and free- 
dom is power. 

13. He who has mastered himself will be stronger 
than his passions, superior to circumstances, higher than 
his calling, greater than his speech. 

14. No one can call himself educated until every 
voluntary muscle obeys his will. 

15. The most disagreeable persons are those who 
cannot or will not control themselves. 

16. When you can say no, not only to things that 
are wrong and sinful, but also to things pleasant, which 
would hinder and clog your grand duties and your chief 
work, you shall understand more fully what life is worth 
and how to make the most of it. 

17. You need to gain the habit of self-command in 
all circumstances, and this is best acquired by daily 
practice in the continually recurring small matters of life. 

18. To feel the thrill which comes from the con- 
sciousness of complete self-mastery; this is life raised 
to its highest standard. 

19. There is no danger that may not be averted, no 
sin that may not be overcome, by him who has the moral 
courage to begin striving and the moral strength to keep 
striving till he is master of himself. 

20. Men without the virtue of self-denial are not 
only subject to their own selfish desires, but they are 
usually in bondage to others who are like-minded with 
themselves. 

21. Never allow yourself to be convinced that you 
are not complete master of yourself. 

22. No one will pay any serious attention to a man 
who cannot govern himself. 



62 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 6. Self- Respect. 

He that respects himself is safe from others; 
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce. 

— Longfellow. 

i. If self-respect be highly esteemed and highly 
enthroned in your life, and if you shun any occasion of 
offense to it, you will not depart far from the path of 
rectitude. It is vastly more important to respect your- 
self, to be able to look upon your own soul without 
blushing — or rather to have your soul look upon you — 
than it is to be respected by other men. When self-re- 
spect goes then manliness disappears with it. 

2. As men respect themselves, so will they usually 
respect the personality of others. And this is a prime 
factor in gaining the best results in everyday life. 

3. To attain the most thorough self-respect, you 
must give your earnest attention to being, instead of 
striving to keep up appearances, by simply seeming. 

4. If a man possesses the consciousness of what he 
is, he will soon learn what he ought to be ; let him have 
a theoretical respect for himself, and a practical will 
soon follow. 

5. Self-respect is the root of most of the virtues, 
especially of cleanliness, chastity, reverence, sobriety and 
honesty. But it is not enough for you to possess these 
characteristics, unless you fully realize the fact, and feel 
a personal interest in retaining them. 

6. Self-respect is the noblest garment with which 
a man may clothe himself — the most elevating feeling 
with which the mind can be inspired. 

7. Independent, manly self-respect is a guard that 
keeps out much evil. 

8. With self-respect should go self-doubt, self-crit- 
icism, and humility. These are the proper complements 
and preserve the balance. 

9. The high-minded youth who would keep his self- 
respect, needs to remember particularly, that he is not to 
abstain from wrong because it may possibly injure him- 
self or others eventually, but he is to abhor the unclean 



63 

and questionable deed because it is absolutely certain to 
blur, to vitiate, and, if persistently repeated, to destroy 
the moral vision. 

10. If you wish people to respect you, respect your- 
self. 

ii. You must have that self-respect that lifts you 
above meanness, and makes you independent of slights 
and snubs. 

12. You may have a stalwart self-respect that will 
be a lifting power from within ; will create a power of 
resistance to temptation from without, and lay the foun- 
dation for the qualities of character and industry that 
are essential to true success. 

13. The man who cannot respect himself, who is 
guilty of violating the sacred divinity within him, can 
never even regard himself as successful. He may take 
a little satisfaction in the thought that the world thinks 
him so, and that thousands covet the luxuries which he 
enjoys, but there is a self-condemnation which is con- 
stantly dragging at his heart, and robbing life of its su- 
preme satisfaction. 

14. He that respects not is not respected. 

15. No man can possibly improve in any company, 
for which he has not respect enough to be under some 
degree of restraint. 

16. Self-respect is based upon the same principle as 
respect for others. 

17. The man of character is reverential. The pos- 
session of this quality marks the noblest and highest type 
of manhood and womanhood. Reverence for things con- 
secrated by the homage of generations — for high objects, 
and noble aims — for the great men of former times, and 
the high-minded workers among your contemporaries. 

18. Reverence is alike indispensable to the happi- 
ness of individuals, of families and of nations. Without 
it there can be no trust, no faith, no confidence, either 
in man or God — neither social peace nor social progress. 

19. The surest way to spoil a boy is not to instill 
into his soul from the time he is an infant, a true rev- 
erence for woman, a regard for her virtue as sacred as 
the love he bears his mother. 



6 4 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 7. Self- Reliance. 

Thy spirit, Independence, let me share; 

Lord of the iron heart and eagle eye, 
Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare, 

Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky. 

— Smollett. 

1. Man to be great must be self-reliant. Though 
he may not be self-reliant in all things, he must be self- 
reliant in the one in which he would be great. This self- 
reliance is not the self-sufficiency of conceit. It is daring 
to stand alone. 

2. The man who is self-reliant seeks ever to discov- 
er and conquer the weakness within him that keeps him 
from the attainment of what he holds dearest; he seeks 
within himself the power to battle against all outside in- 
fluences. 

3. Self-reliance is a grand element of character. 

4. Among the mental qualifications which help on 
to success in life, there is none which is of more import- 
ance than self-reliance. 

5. Self-reliance means other men looking to you; 
the want of it, your looking to other men. 

6. Those men have won most who have relied on 
themselves. 

7. Those who rely most on themselves for the 
accomplishment of any aim are the ones who do the best 
work. 

8. The man who is not self-reliant is weak, hesitat- 
ing and doubting in all he does. He fears to take a de- 
cisive step, because he dreads failure, because he is wait- 
ing for some one to advise him, or because he dare not 
act in accordance with his own best judgment. 

9. Discontent is the want of self-reliance ; it is in- 
firmity of will. 

10. Carry out your plans and ideas yourself. 

11. If you want a thing done well do it yourself. 

12. Depend upon your own exertions and abilities, 
and they will reward your confidence. 

13. Self-help has accomplished about all the great 
things of the world. 



65 

14. Self-help is the root of all genuine growth in 
the individual, and constitutes the true source of vigor 
and strength. 

15. Individual men must exert themselves and help 
themselves, otherwise they never can be effectually help- 
ed by others. 

16. Self-confidence sees the possibilities of the in- 
dividual ; self-reliance realizes them. 

17. Too much guidance and restraint hinder the 
formation of habits of self-help. 

18. Many things which are necessary to life, to pro- 
gress, and to comfort, you can do for yourself better than 
any one else can do them for you. 

19. He who begins with crutches generally ends 
with them. Help from within always strengthens, but 
help from without, as a rule, enfeebles. 

20. The man or woman who is helped seldom be- 
comes a complete success. 

21. Fight your own battles. Ask no favors of any 
one and you will succeed a thousand times better than 
one who is always beseeching some one's influence and 
patronage. 

22. Every one of you is in duty bound, as well as 
supremely privileged, to make the most of yourself. As 
soon as this is done, so far as it can be in the schools, you 
should set about earning bread and serving your fellows. 

23. Every man and woman in good health ought 
to earn enough to support themselves. 

24. A man must learn to stand upright upon his 
own feet, to respect himself, to be independent of charity 
and accident. It is on this basis only that any super- 
structure of intellectual cultivation worth having can 
possibly be built. 

25. Believe in yourself. You may succeed when 
others do not believe in you, but never when you do not 
believe in yourself. 

26. When you depend upon yourself, you know that 
it is only on your merit that you will succeed. Then you 
discover your latent powers, awake to your manhood, 
and are on your mettle to do your utmost. 



66 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 8. Honor. 

Honor and fame from no condition rise; 

Act well your part, there all the honor lies. — Pope. 

1. It is the possession of established and unwaver- 
ing principles that makes a man a firm character. These 
principles relate to right and wrong, and to everything 
about which the judgment has to balance probabilities. 

2. Principles are the same in small affairs as in 
great ones, the violation of the first will lead to the viola- 
tion of the other. 

3. You must educate yourself into those feelings 
which teach you to consult the welfare and comfort of 
others, and to bow yourself to the restraint of honor. 

4. All wise men have viewed life as a contest in 
which the brave and confident come off with honor, and 
the timid and foolish with loss and perhaps dishonor. 

5. The battle of life is, in most cases, fought up- 
hill ; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win 
it without honor. 

6. The man of honor is his own severest critic. 
What he might pardon to the weakness or peculiar temp- 
tations of others he cannot pardon in himself. He is es- 
pecially severe in regard to what he does or is tempted 
to do in secret. 

7. He is the noblest man who puts the highest esti- 
mate upon others. 

8. A good name is one of the few honors which all 
men alike desire. 

9. If you lose your honor you lose yourself. 

10. There is no success without honor. 

11. A truly honorable man is very sensitive to all 
matters which appear to cast discredit on his integrity 
or veracity. 

12. The shortest and surest way to live with honor 
in the world, is to be in reality what you would appear 
to be. 

13. The young man who starts out with an armor 
of honor and a lance of courtesy is well equipped for 



6; 

life's battles. It may be that he will not win the success 
which comes from trampling on others, but he does 
not care for that kind of success. 

14. A man should care more for his word than for 
his life. 

15. What happens to your private character may 
not, at times, be important ; but it is important that you 
assert the dignity of humanity to the last breath. 

16. To learn to love all kinds of nobleness gives in- 
sight into the true significance of things, and gives a 
standard to settle their relative importance. 

17. The inviolable bond of a promise, the sacred 
obligation of an oath, the respect due parents, the rever- 
ence for old age, the strictest obedience to the laws, and 
above all, the love of country — the noble flame of patriot- 
ism — should be early and assiduously inculcated. 

18. A man is of consequence in the world when it 
is known that he can be relied on — that when he says 
he knows a thing, he does know it — that when he says he 
will do a thing, he can do it and does do it. Thus reli- 
ableness becomes a passport to the general esteem and 
confidence of mankind. 

19. A noble heart will disdain to subsist, like a 
drone, upon other's labors ; but it will rather outdo its 
private obligations to other men's care and toil, by con- 
siderate service to others. 

20. The demand is for men, high-minded, staunch- 
hearted men, that dare to stand for the right and work 
with a purpose unmoved by popular clamor. 

21. You can learn to live nobly only by acting nobly 
on every occasion that presents itself. 

22. Moral principles are social and universal. They 
form, in a manner, the party of humankind against vice 
and disorder, its common enemy. 

23. You should act honorably as a matter of honor, 
— but it pays also from a financial standpoint. 

24. The only chivalry worth having is that which 
is the readiest to pay deference to the old, protect the 
feeble, and serve womankind, regardless of rank or age. 



68 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 9. Integrity. 

Lie not; but let thy heart be true to God, 
Thy mouth to it; thy actions to both. 
Cowards tell lies. 

Dare to be true, nothing- can need a lie; 
A fault which needs it most 

Grows two thereby. — Herbert. 

1. Integrity first, integrity last. That must be your 
corner-stone if you are building up a character that will 
stand against every temptation, every snare, every al- 
lurement, and give you a spotless reputation, and the 
best things of life that money cannot buy. 

2. There is no safety for a young man in the early 
period of life, without strict and unbending integrity in 
word and deed. 

3. Let nothing tempt you to cross the sacred line 
of perfect integrity; neither the smallness of the trans- 
action, intention to repay shortly, the example or bidding 
of others, the temptations of pleasure, or even the pres- 
sure of the keenest necessity. 

4. Without absolute integrity a man may make 
money for awhile and appear to be successful, but he is, 
at best, a clever fool ; for his policy is one which is sure 
to be disastrous to him in the long run and bring him 
failure in the end. 

5. Nothing more completely baffles one who is full 
of trick and duplicity than straightforward and simple 
integrity in action by another. 

6. Integrity is never worth so much as when you 
have parted with your all to keep it. 

7. The importance of strict punctuality and integ- 
rity cannot be overestimated. 

8. Fidelity to the work in hand, and a genuine feel- 
ing of responsibility will eventually bring most of you 
into the right niches at the proper time. 

9. He that is faithful in little is faithful in much. 

10. Unless men can serve faithfully, they will not 
rule others wisely. 

11. Fidelity in little things is one of the surest 
tests of character. 



6p 

12. Keep faith with yourself. When you have 
said in your heart that you will or that you will not do a 
thing, live up to your pledge. If you will not keep your 
word to yourself, with whom will you keep it? 

13. The veriest beggar in the street is dishonored 
by a broken promise. 

14. An unfaithful servant is worthless to God and 
man. 

15. Industry and perseverance, coupled with fidel- 
ity, can do anything, but without them nothing can be 
done. 

16. Elicit the confidence of others by fair dealing. 

17. Better be poor and despised by others, than to 
have plenty and fall below the mark of self-respect, be- 
cause conscious of having betrayed your trust and prov- 
en recreant to obligations. 

18. There is nothing more to be esteemed than 
manly firmness. 

19. If you stand firm in your hour of trial, this 
firmness gives security to the mind, which always feels 
satisfaction in acting conformably to duty. 

20. There is nothing like a steadfast man, one in 
whom you can have confidence, one who is found at his 
post, who arrives punctually, and can be trusted when 
you rely on him. 

21. Steadfastness is a noble quality, but, unguided 
by knowledge, it becomes obstinacy. 

22. Good conduct consists in regulating your life 
according to good principles ; and a willingness to abide 
by rules is the first, the indispensable condition of moral 
growth. 

23. Men who can be relied on are always in de- 
mand. 

24. Rectitude is only the confirmed habit of doing 
what is right. 

25. Men of genuine excellence, in every station of 
life — men of industry, of integrity, of high principle, of 
sterling honesty of purpose — command the spontaneous 
homage of mankind. 

26. Every brave man is a man of his word. 



7° 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 10. Sincerity. 

Be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, 
That palter with us in a double sense; 
That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
And break it to our hope. — Shakespeare. 

1. Sincerity is to speak as you think, to do as you 
pretend, make good what you promise, and really do 
what you would seem and appear to do. 

2. The man who is sincere in the expressing of 
himself, in whatever line it may be, becomes a factor in 
the world. 

3. The only conclusive evidence of a man's sin- 
cerity is that he gives himself for a principle. 

4. The man who is sincere in everything that he 
does is the one whom men employ at good wages, and 
who is the maker of his own fortune. 

5. Candor impresses with the idea of sincerity, but 
must be tempered with discretion. 

6. Consistency lends to sincerity her greatest 
charm. 

7. You cannot, in any given case, by any sudden 
and single effort, will to be true, if the habit of your life 
has been insincerity. 

8. Sincerity is the highest quality of good manners. 

9. The lesson that man has learned through time, 
is that duality of character is not good. 

10. If you have any taint of the blood which you 
discover inclines you toward guile, insincerity and un- 
truthfulness, fortify yourself by the reflection that insin- 
cerity is a losing practice. 

11. Nature forever puts a premium on reality. 

12. The higher the character or rank, the less the 
pretense, because there is less to pretend to. 

13. It is the men of conviction who give a sort of 
personal impact to opinions and convert ideas into elo- 
quence. 

14. Earnestness of belief holds your attention as if 
there v/ere some authority in the very enthusiasm of a 
man, quite aside from his intellectual equipment. 



7i 

15. The earnest spirit finds its way to the hearts of 
others. 

1 6. Whoever strives to do his duty faithfully is 
fulfilling the purpose for which he was created, and build- 
ing up in himself the principles of a manly character. 

17. A profound conviction raises a man above the 
feeling of ridicule. 

18. When working for others sink yourself out of 
sight, seek their interest. 

19. The very effort to advance — to arrive at a high- 
er standard of character than you have reached — is in- 
spiring and invigorating; and even though you may fall 
short of it, you cannot fail to be improved by every hon- 
est effort made in an upward direction. 

20. A good intention clothes itself with power. 

21. A great mind disdains to hold anything by 
courtesy, and therefore never usurps what a lawful claim- 
ant may take away. 

22. Your condition and character may, and should, 
continually change and improve ; but the public sample 
at any time should never absolutely misrepresent, though 
it may often accentuate its true qualities. 

23. Give up no principle unless you are convinced 
of its absurdity or bad consequences. 

24. One of the first steps to be taken, if you will 
have a character that will stand by you in prosperity and 
adversity, in life and in death, is to fortify your mind 
with fixed principles. 

25. There is a kind of anger in a man that is not 
sinful, but essential to his moral perfection — the senti- 
ment of righteous indignation against wrong, which is 
quite different from resentment at a personal insult or 
injury, being not selfish or cruel, but noble, generous, 
and one of the principal supports of righteousness in 
human society. 

26. When the true man, bent on good, holds by his 
purpose, he places but small value on the rewards or 
praises of the world ; his own approving conscience, and 
the "well done" which awaits him is his best reward. 

27. You should be honest and outspoken at all 
times. 



72 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 11. Strength. 

What is strength, without a double share 
Of wisdom? Vast, unwieldly, burdensome; 
Proudly secure, yet liable to fall 
By weakest subtleties; not made to rule, 
But to subserve where wisdom bears command. 

— Milton. 

1. Strength of character consists of two things, — 
power of will and power of self-restraint. It requires 
two things, therefore, for its existence, — strong feelings 
and strong command over them. 

2. The strong man is he who never allows the low- 
er elements of his nature to usurp the place of the higher ; 
who makes servants of his passions, and governs him- 
self with reference to his physical and mental welfare. 

3. The strong man is he who, by discipline, exer- 
cises a constant control over his thoughts, his speech and 
his acts. 

4. That man is strongest who owes most to him- 
self. 

5. To love power is natural to the strong. 

6. Strength and responsibility go together. 

7. The glory of a young man is in his strength. 
Weakness of any kind minimizes, belittles, cripples him. 

8. The strength of youth is its unlimited hopeful- 
ness. 

9. Strength is wealth. It is ability to help. It 
creates the obligation to use. It must be coined and put 
into circulation. The law of strength is exercise, its 
glory is to right wrong and protect weakness. 

10. Nothing is sweeter than the tenderness of a 
strong man. 

11. If there are those of such exalted virtue that 
it seems well-nigh impossible for them to go wrong, it 
is because of their strength. 

12. The sense of power is the highest and best of 
pleasures, when the belief on which it is founded is a 
true belief, and has been fairly earned by investigation. 



73 

13. Mental strength is as necessary for the develop- 
ment of woman's character as of man's. It gives her 
capacity to deal with the affairs of life, the presence 
of mind which enables her to act with vigor and effect 
in moments of emergency. 

14. A woman's strength is in her sweetness. 

15. It is necessary for all, that they should mingle 
strength with • affection ; that they should be manly as 
well as tender, and be trained to help as well as be 
helped. 

16. He is strongest who draws men to himself, who 
creates his company; this is through having a positive 
quality — moral courage and physical prowess. 

17. To a strong man achievement is the only 
applause of value — the making of his point. 

18. Strength can conquer circumstances. 

19. You must measure the strength of a man by the 
power of the feelings he subdues, not by the power of 
those which subdue him. Hence composure is very often 
the highest result of strength. 

20. He who possesses truthfulness, integrity, and 
goodness, united with strength of purpose, carries with 
him a power which is irresistible. He is strong to do 
good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear up under 
difficulty and misfortune. 

21. He who, with strong passions, remains chaste; 
he who, keenly sensitive, with manly power of indigna- 
tion in him, can be provoked, and yet restrain himself 
and forgive — these are strong men, the spiritual heroes. 

22. To the brave head and strong hand, the capa- 
cious lungs and vigorous frame, fall, and always fall, the 
heavy burdens ; and where the heavy burdens fall the 
great prizes fall, too. 

23. The weakness of submissive gentleness is true 
power. 

24. Self-confidence and self-respect give a sense of 
power which nothing else can bestow. 

25. Half the giant's strength is in the conviction 
that he is a giant. The strength of a muscle is enhanced 
a hundred fold by the will power. 



74 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book V. Part 12. Discipline. 

We rise by the things that are under our feet; 

By what we have mastered of good or gain; 

By the pride deposed and the passion slain, 
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet. — Anon. 

1. Discipline is a part of life; and if met early, and 
accepted, all life becomes easier. The discipline which 
the real world gives is based on inexorable law, not on 
personal whim. 

2. Not a day passes without its discipline, whether 
for good or for evil. There is no act, however trivial, but 
has its train of consequences. 

3. The discipline which is the main end of educa- 
tion, is simply control acquired over your mental facul- 
ties ; without this discipline no man is a strong and 
accurate thinker. 

4. The discipline of labor, frugality, self-denial, and 
self-control, which money-making gives, are worth a 
thousand times more than money. 

5. Precepts and instructions are useful as far as 
they go, but without the discipline of real life, they 
remain in the nature of theory only. 

6. It is every man's duty to discipline and guide 
himself according to his responsibilities, and the facul- 
ties with which he has been endowed. 

7. The most self-reliant, self-governing man is 
always under discipline ; and the more perfect the dis- 
cipline, the higher will be his moral condition. 

8. Speaking generally, the training and discipline 
that are most suitable for one sex in early life, are also 
the most suitable for the other; and the education and 
culture that fill the mind of the man, will prove equally 
wholesome for the woman. 

9. Life is a discipline and you are in the school to 
learn. 

10. The best discipline is always combined with 
freedom, mildness, sympathy, and affection. 

11. Good discipline will greatly promote habits of 
integrity and openness. 



75 

12. Upon moral discipline depend the cultivation 
of the sense of self-respect, the education of the habit of 
obedience, the development of the idea of duty. 

13. Business success depends, in no small degree, 
on that regulation of temper and careful self-discipline, 
which gives a wise man not only a command over him- 
self, but over others. 

14. It is a great thing to have brains, but it is vastly 
better to be able and willing to command your brains 
confidently under all circumstances. 

15. What every man needs, no matter what he is 
doing, is the best trained and developed mind it is pos- 
sible for him to have. 

16. Get the best training you can. Nothing is too 
good for you, and no detail of knowledge unworthy of 
attention, so long as it is in your line. 

17. The prime inquiry should be, where can train- 
ing buttress natural ability, so as to prevent natural 
weakness from neutralizing its efficiency. 

18. The highest training fits best for the perform- 
ance of every task. 

19. The main thing in training the young, is to 
develop to its utmost the genius that is the natural super- 
iority of each individual. 

20. A great point to be aimed at, is to get the work- 
ing quality well trained. When that is done, the race 
will be found comparatively easy. 

21. The education received at school is but a begin- 
ning, and is valuable mainly inasmuch as it trains the 
mind and habituates it to continuous application and 
study. 

22. Even heredity, strong as it is, yields to con- 
stant, gentle and relentless training. 

23. Training the hand and eye to do work well, 
leads individuals to form correct habits in other respects, 
and a good workman is, in most cases, a good citizen. 

24. The training of any man, even the wisest, 
cannot fail to be powerfully influenced by the moral sur- 
roundings of his early years. 



7 6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 1. Manner. 

Manners are not idle, but the fruit 

Of noble nature and of loyal mind. — Tennyson. 

1. Law and religion control behavior in its essen- 
tials; manner controls it in its details — regulating those 
daily actions which are too numerous and too unimpor- 
tant to be officially directed. 

2. Good manner consists in pure thinking, pure 
speaking and pure acting. 

3. Good manner is not a mere matter of form. It 
is essential that there be some standard of deportment, 
but the garment of formal politeness is easily assumed, 
and may conceal depravity. True politeness, the kind 
that cannot be counterfeited, finds its source in a good 
heart ; sincerity is its chief element. 

4. Etiquette is the corner-stone of society. With- 
out some knowledge of it, no man or woman is fairly 
equipped for the daily round of business or social 
intercourse. It is a ladder by which the lowest and least 
conspicuous of men may reach a place from which to 
command the attention and respect of the mightiest. It 
is a passport recognized the world over. 

5. The true spirit of good manners is very closely 
allied to that of good morals. 

6. If manner is a product of a kind heart, it will 
please, though it be destitute of graceful polish. 

7. Manner conveys high lessons and inspiring tok- 
ens of character. 

8. Bad manner often neutralizes even honesty, 
industry, and the greatest energy; while agreeable man- 
ner wins in spite of other defects. 

9. Bad manner is simply the result of neglect in 
early training. 

10. It is by manner only that you can please, and 
consequently rise. 

11. Manner is the ornament of action; and there is 
a way of speaking a kind word, or doing a kind thing, 
which greatly enhances its value. 



77 

12. Graceful manner is the outward form of refine- 
ment in the mind, and good affection in the heart. 

13. As childhood advances to manhood, the transi- 
tion from bad manners to bad morals is almost imper- 
ceptible. 

14. Fine manner, springing from a loving heart, 
makes the homeliest person beautiful and dowers the 
least intellectual with an irresistible fascination. 

15. There is nothing, however minute, in manner, 
however insignificant in appearance, that does not 
demand some portion of attention from a well-bred man 
or woman. 

16. Good manner is neither more nor less than good 
behavior, consisting of courtesy and kindness ; benevo- 
lence being the preponderating element in all kinds of 
mutually beneficial and pleasant intercourse among 
human beings. 

17. Manner often places within easy reach what 
money cannot buy, and politeness has won more victo- 
ries than armies. 

18. Manner may not be put on and off at pleasure, 
like clothing; manner is a part of the essentials of life, 
and belongs to the character. 

19. The acquirement of good manner is not difficult, 
and only requires ordinary care, tact, and sagacity. 

20. Eccentricity should be avoided. 

21. To avoid wounding the feelings of another is 
the key to almost every problem of manner that can be 
proposed. 

22. Good manner plays a most important part in 
the world of business. If a man has no manners he should 
at once begin to cultivate them, by selecting good society 
and by reading. Too much politeness is as bad as too 
little : there is a happy medium. 

23. Manner is for everyday use, for the counting 
room as for the drawing room. 

24. The most fascinating person is always the one 
of most winning manner, not the one of greatest physical 
beauty. 



78 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 2. Society. 

Man in society is like a flower 

Blown in its natural bed; 'tis there alone 

His faculties expanded in full bloom 

Shine out: there only reach their proper use. 

— Cowper. 

1. Men are subordinate members of the structure 
called society which, good or bad, on the one hand takes 
things good or bad from the individual conduct of man ; 
and on the other confers, by its own good or bad condi- 
tion, benefit or injury upon the individuals that go to 
constitute it. It works both ways. 

2. The best part of human civilization is derived 
from social contact ; hence courtesy, self-respect, mutual 
toleration, and self-sacrifice for the good of others. 

3. From the home, be it pure or impure, issue the 
principles and maxims that govern society. 

4. To succeed you have got to conform to the cus- 
toms and the recognized methods of society. 

5. The desire of pleasing is the basis of social con- 
nection. 

6. Fine minds do more to make good society than 
fine clothes. 

7. Gold cannot vie with virtue, and social position 
does not create manhood. 

8. The moral cement of all society is virtue ; it 
unites and preserves, while vice separates and destroys. 

9. Men of character are the conscience of the 
society to which they belong. 

10. Generosity and tact are necessary to make good 
society. 

11. The only way in which it is possible to acquire 
the habits of good society, is to live in no other. 

12. A lack of the knowledge of the rules, usages 
and ceremonies of good society is a serious drawback to 
every individual whatever his sphere in life may be. 

13. If you make yourself worthy of refined and 
intelligent society, you shall not be rejected from it; 
and in such society you shall acquire by example all that 
you have failed to learn from precept. 



79 

14. The deficiencies of early years need not keep 
you back from a position of eminence in society, if you 
will but strive for it. 

15. Not only does the moral character, but the 
mental strength of man, find its safeguard and support 
in the moral purity and mental cultivation of woman, but 
the more completely the powers of both are developed, 
the more harmonious and well-ordered will society be — 
the more safe and certain its elevation and advancement. 

16. In polite society great deference is paid to wo- 
man, and certain seemingly arbitrary requirements are 
made in her favor. 

17. While the world lasts fashion will continue to 
hold perpetual sway, and influence to a certain extent 
the customs of society and mark the characters of men. 

18. The highest end of social relations is a self-con- 
scious, self-determining man, thinking the true, willing 
the right, loving the good. These relations constitute 
the organism out of which alone he can be born into 
symmetrical, well-rounded life. 

19. Moral laws are social products. They are not 
empirical, but fundamental, eternal, and essential. They 
inhere in the constitution of man. But it is only through 
relation that man comes to the recognition of them, as 
binding for conduct. 

20. Each circle and section, each rank and class, 
has its respective customs and observances, to which 
conformity is required at the risk of being tabooed. 

21. A young man is a social person. He enjoys be- 
ing with other people. 

22. By making the rules of etiquette habitual as 
children, you remove all awkwardness and restraint from 
your manner when you are old enough to go into society. 

23. Man was intended by nature as a creature of 
society, receiving and conferring benefits by association. 

24. Society judges a man by his bearing, whether 
it is modest or assertive. By his manner, whether it is 
quiet, courteous and thoughtful. By his language, 
whether it is clean and refined, and by the company he 
keeps. 



8o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 3. Gentleman. 

But nature, with a matchless hand, sends forth her nobly born, 
And laughs the paltry attributes of wealth and rank to scorn; 
She moulds with care a spirit rare, half human, half divine, 
And cries exulting, "Who can make a gentleman like mine?" 

— Eliza Cook. 

1. A gentleman's first characteristic is that firm- 
ness of structure in the body which renders it capable 
of the most delicate sensation, and of structure in the 
mind which renders it capable of the most delicate sym- 
pathies. 

2. A perfect gentleman instinctively knows just 
what to do under all circumstances, and need be bound 
by no written code of manner. 

3. In whatever society or in whatever part of the 
world a gentleman may happen to be, he always com- 
plies externally with the spirit and usages of the place. 

4. A gentleman is one who has reflected deeply 
on all the obligations which belong to his station, and 
who has applied himself ardently to fulfill them. 

5. A gentleman employs in the regulation of his 
own conduct the strictest standard of propriety, and in 
his expectations of that of others is most lenient. 

6. It takes four things to make a gentleman. You 
must be a gentleman in your principles, a gentleman in 
your tastes, a gentleman in your manner, and a gentleman 
in your person. 

7. A gentleman will not only scorn to tempt any 
woman to sin, but he will seek to protect and defend all 
women from harm. 

8. A gentleman holds himself to the same rule of 
honorable conduct that he expects and demands of wo- 
man. 

9. A gentleman is respectful to his superiors, cour- 
teous to his equals, kind to his inferiors, and wishes all 
well. 

10. He who wishes to be a gentleman must asso- 
ciate only with those whose tastes and habits are gen- 
tlemanly and whose language is refined. 

11. A true gentleman will never forget that if he 



8i 

is bound to exercise courtesy and kindness in his inter- 
course with the world, he is doubly bound to do so in his 
intercourse with those who depend on him for advice, 
protection and example. 

12. A true gentleman is entirely free from every 
kind of pretense. He avoids homage instead of exacting 
it. 

13. Do not imagine that you will easily acquire 
those qualities which will constitute you a gentleman. 

14. Education begins the gentleman, but reading, 
good company and reflection must finish him. 

15. A gentleman gives his company credit for re- 
finement of mind and entire purity of association. 

16. A gentleman is always anxious to please and 
always willing to be pleased. 

17. A gentleman is cautious in accepting a quarrel, 
but more cautious in giving cause for it. 

18. A gentleman never violates decency, and re- 
spects the prejudices of honesty. 

19. A gentleman's constant efforts are never to 
wound the feelings of another, and he is well aware that 
prejudice can excite feeling quite as strongly as truth. 

20. Inordinate ambition, narrowness, smallness, 
stinginess, greediness, selfishness, must all be eliminat- 
ed from an inventory of the true gentleman. 

21. A gentleman lends to virtue the forms of cour- 
tesy, and borrows from her the substance of sincerity. 

22. There is nothing so admirable among men any- 
where and everywhere, as the display of gentlemanly 
qualities, and nothing more deplorable than their lack. 

23. A sort of moral magnetism, a tact acquired by 
frequent and long association with others — alone give 
those qualities which keep you always from error, and 
entitle you to the name of a thorough gentleman. 

24. High birth and good breeding are the privileg- 
es of the few ; but the habits and manners of a gentleman 
may be acquired by all. 

25. From a right source can come no higher praise 
of a man than that he is a gentleman. 

26. A gentleman forms his opinions boldly and ex- 
presses them gracefully. He values his own esteem too 
highly to be guilty of dishonor. 



82 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 4. Lady. 

The reason firm, the temperate will, 

Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill — 

A perfect woman, nobly planned, 

To warn, to comfort, and command. — Wordsworth. 

1. Lady and chastity are synonymous. 

2. A virtuous woman is the most beautiful thing 
on earth, and one who is not is the vilest. 

3. Strength, honor, wisdom, goodness and virtue, 
are a lady's requisites. 

4. A girl neatly and properly dressed, who speaks 
well and acts politely and kindly, is a lady. 

5. Fine dresses do not make a lady. 

6. A woman whose general style of dress is chaste, 
elegant and appropriate, is generally, in disposition and 
mind, an object to love and admire. 

7. Every lady should remember that to dress well 
is a duty which she owes to society; but to make it her 
idol is to commit something worse than a folly. Fashion 
is made for woman, not woman for fashion. 

8. A lady can always be told by her voice and 
laugh — neither of which will be loud or coarse, but low 
and nicely modulated. 

9. The least want of refinement in conversation or 
deportment lowers a woman forever. 

10. A woman strong and womanly in all her ways, 
in whom the heart of a husband can safely trust — this 
is the perfect lady. 

11. A high degree of intellectual refinement in the 
female is the surest pledge society can have for the im- 
provement of the male. 

12. A woman's character is more easily affected by 
apparent contact with the worthless and dissipated than 
a man's. 

13. A lady can always, by her own carriage and be- 
havior, protect her good name. 

14. A lady is never guilty of an indelicate act. 

15. Calumny will never attack the name of a woman 
who always conducts her acts like a lady. 



83 

16. Instill into young girls the principle that, above 
and before all, they are women — women whose character 
is of their own making, and whose lot is in their own 
hands. 

17. A lady goes about her business in a quiet way 
and in her preoccupation is secure from all the annoy- 
ance to which a person of less perfect breeding might be 
subjected. 

18. The true girl has to be sought for. She does 
not parade herself as show goods. She is not fashion- 
able. Generally, she is not rich. But, oh, what a heart 
she has when you find her! so large and pure and wo- 
manly. 

19. The ideal woman is religious — has the wise, 
sweet, old-fashioned' notions about right and wrong. 

20. Women observe all the delicacies of propriety 
in manner, and all the shades of impropriety, much bet- 
ter than men. 

21. It is not enough that a gentlewoman should be 
clever, or well-educated, or well-born. To take her due 
place in society she must be acquainted with the minut- 
est rules of society. 

22. To be womanly is the greatest charm of wo- 
man. 

23. A woman must be truly refined to incite chival- 
ry in the heart of man. 

24. Never approve a mean action, nor speak an 
unrefined word ; let all your conduct be such as an honor- 
able and right minded man may look for in his wife and 
the mother of his children. 

25. There exists a strong bond between intelligence 
and beauty. Intelligence is said to be the beauty of 
ugliness, but it is also the most vital and lasting charm 
of the beautiful woman. 

26. Without cultivated intelligence the most beau- 
tiful woman were little better than a well-dressed doll. 

27. To exhibit an amiable exterior is essentially 
requisite in a young lady, for it indicates cleanliness, 
sweetness, a love of order and propriety, and all those 
virtues which are attractive to her associates. 

28. Girls have much in their power with regard to 
boys ; to give them a true and high opinion of women. 



84 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 5. Politeness. 

How sweet and gracious, even in common speech, 
Is that fine sense which men call Courtesy; 
Wholesome as air and genial as the light, 
Welcome in every clim e as breath of flowers — 
It transmutes aliens into trusting friends, 
And gives its owner passport round the globe. 

— Jas. T. Fields. 

i. True politeness is the outward sign of the heart's 
most generous impulses. It is the quality which distin- 
guishes a gentleman from a boor. 

2. The best way to become a man of politeness, is 
to begin with the heart, to act on the principle of making 
every one as happy as is in your power, because you 
would have all others do so to you. No one can act on 
this principle for any length of time without possessing 
all the essentials of politeness. 

3. Cleanliness is the first mark of politeness ; it is 
agreeable to others, and is a very pleasant sensation to 
yourself. 

4. It is not sufficient that you are amiable and ele- 
gant in your deportment to strangers and to your ac- 
quaintances ; you must be undeviatingly so to your most 
intimate friends, to nearest relations, to father, mother, 
brothers, sisters, husband, and wife. 

5. Politeness and good breeding are absolutely ne- 
cessary to adorn any or all other good qualities. With- 
out them, no knowledge, no perfection whatever, is seen 
in its best light. 

6. Mere intercourse with the world, to some extent, 
gives a habit and taste for those modest and obliging 
observances which constitute true politeness. 

7. Those who know you and care for you may ex- 
cuse your shortcomings, but the world at large knows 
you only as it sees you. Therefore, on the least word or 
action, depends your fate at its hands. 

8. In the relaxation of home life there is more or 
less freedom from the formality that marks your inter- 
course with strangers and outsiders. But there should 
be none the less of real and genuine courtesy. 



85 

9. Some persons appear to be born polite. Others 
have to learn to be polite. A good deal is in the blood, 
and a good deal is in the breeding. 

10. No accomplishment will atone for the want of 
genuine politeness. 

11. You must feel polite before you can show po- 
liteness. Then it comes natural to you. 

12. True politeness is the outward visible sign of 
those inward spiritual graces called modesty, unselfish- 
ness, and generosity. 

13. The inbred politeness which springs from right- 
mindedness and kindly feelings is of no exclusive rank 
or station. 

14. One who is wise will never violate the proprie- 
ties of well-bred people. 

15. True politeness is perfect ease and freedom. It 
simply consists in treating others just as you love to be 
treated yourself. 

16. Good sense and good nature suggest civility in 
general, but in good breeding there are a thousand little 
delicacies which are established only by custom. 

17. Civility is to a man what beauty is to a woman — 
it creates an instantaneous impression in his behalf. 

18. Propriety of deportment is the valuable 
result of a knowledge of yourself and respect 
for the rights of others ; it is a feeling of the sacrifices 
which are imposed on self-esteem by your own social 
relations, a sacred requirement of harmony and affection. 

19. To be agreeable is to sacrifice selfish inclina- 
tion, to crucify exclusiveness, to be neither brutal nor 
brusque, but to make this one life which is given you as 
perfect and beautiful as you can. 

20. The obligation to be hospitable is a sacred one, 
emphasized by every moral code known to the world. 

21. The indispensable requisites to being a charm- 
ing and agreeable person are tact, unselfishness and sym- 
pathy. 

2.2.. Politeness and good breeding are absolutely 
necessary to make you welcome and agreeable in con- 
versation and common life. 



86 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 6. Culture. 

If thou couldst in vision see thyself the man God meant, 
Thou never more wouldst be the man thou art, content. 

— Anon. 

1. High culture is sound culture, and may exist 
without much knowledge of, or particular respect for, 
mere conventional superficialities. 

2. A person whose impulses and desires are his 
own — are the expression of his own nature, as it has 
been developed and modified by his own culture — is said 
to have character. 

3. Whatever strengthens and clarifies the mind, 
whatever broadens the horizon of the vision, or intensi- 
fies your interest in higher things, is a source of culture. 
Culture is not the result of any study or combination of 
studies. It is concerned with your attitude toward na- 
ture and humanity, and there is no single gate through 
which all may pass to attain it. 

4. The chief object of culture is, not merely to fill 
the mind with other men's thoughts, and to be the pass- 
ive recipient of their impressions, but to enlarge your 
individual intelligence, and render you a more useful and 
efficient worker in the sphere of life to which you may 
be called. 

5. The higher the culture and the more educated 
the surroundings, the less the temptation to commit any 
act against society. 

6. Culture is the result of training the mind in the 
best and most refined manner. 

7. Toilsome culture is the price of great success, 
and the slow growth of a great character is one of its 
special necessities. 

8. Culture and refinement are the products of long 
waiting and reflection. They come slowly and surely. 
If forced they are merely sham reflections of the genuine 
article. 

9. Culture comes from the constant choice of the 
best within your reach. 



87 

io. Cultivate all that is warm and genial — not the 
cold and repulsive, the hard and morose. 

n. The longest lived men and women have, as a 
rule, been those who have attained great mental and 
moral development. 

12. He who would live to a good old age, who 
would carry youth and freshness, symmetry and beauty of 
mind and body into ripe years, must have a cultured 
heart, an educated mind, and a well kept body. 

13. Great thoughts and grand sentiments refine 
the face and manner, lift man above his surroundings 
and preserve him from the debility common to age. 

14. Scholarship without good breeding puts your 
faults in bolder relief. 

15. Culture must be wedded to a high purpose, or 
it will only marbleize the life. 

16. Your conversation can never be worth listening 
to unless you cultivate your mind. 

17. If good breeding and graceful refinement are 
ever most proper, they are always so. 

18. The wider your acquaintance and the greater 
your experience with mankind, the more you learn to ap- 
preciate the clean-cut and delicate instincts that indicate 
the truly refined nature. 

19. A calm and resolute bearing, a polished speech, 
an embellishment of trifles and the art of hiding all un- 
comfortable feelings are essential to gentility. 

20. The unwritten code of gentility is constantly 
changing in some minor particulars, but its principles 
are immutable, and he who would become a gentleman 
must by some means make himself familiar with them. 

21. From time immemorial music has been suppos- 
ed to exert a peculiarly refining and elevating influence 
on mankind. 

^. Beauty of person will ever be found a dead let- 
ter unless it be animated with beauty of mind. 

23. A man's good breeding is the best security 
against other people's ill manners. 

24. There is scarcely anything of more importance 
to a child of either sex than good breeding. 

25. The formation of taste may be upward or down- 
ward and is a process rather than an act. 



88 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 7. Kindness. 

These are the heroes men today adore, 
These are the valiant ones above all story; 
This is the pathway to the modern glory, 
Which down the years with added power shall pour. 

—J. H. West. 

1. Kindness is love shining in the face, speaking 
through the lips, and acting itself out in the daily life. 
It is not a mere impulse of goodness and generosity, 
spasmodic and intermittent, depending on the feeling of 
the moment, and changing with the ever-changing sur- 
face of the sensibility. It is a thoughtful goodness, a 
calculating benevolence, the result of deliberate choice. 
It is based on principle, not mere feeling, and it is man- 
ifested whether you feel like it or not. 

2. Kindness is a bond that binds all mankind into 
one great family of brothers and sisters. 

3. Kindness in the form of politeness and common 
courtesy makes the relations of men and women outside 
their own homes a source of pleasure and happiness, help- 
ing on every other good thing. 

4. A kind word, or a kind look, will act on those 
on whom coercion has been tried in vain. While sym- 
pathy invites to love and obedience, harshness provokes 
aversion and resistance. 

5. The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exer- 
cise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. 

6. The boy who is kind to animals and helpless 
things has in him one of the characteristics of greatness, 
and if he does not become great, he will certainly never 
become ignoble. 

7. True kindness cherishes and actively promotes 
all reasonable instrumentalities for doing practical good. 

8. If you are unkind your unkindness may be a 
stumbling block that will occasion some one else great 
misfortune. 

9. Kindness does not consist in gifts, but in gentle- 
ness and generosity of spirit. 

10. Kindness draws out the better part of every na- 
ture — disarming resistance, dissipating angry passions, 



8 9 

and melting the hardest heart. It overcomes evil and 
strengthens good. 

ii. Everyone can carry the deeds of kindness into 
everyday life and make themselves better and everyone 
around them happier by the influence of a consistent, 
lovely, unselfish life. 

12. Gentleness is the absence of roughness and 
boisterousness ; it is mildness. It does not lose its tem- 
per and rage, it does not deal in threats and coarse abuse. 

13. Gentleness is the absence of violence ; it is suav- 
ity of manner and sweetness of spirit. It melts rather 
than crushes, draws rather than drives, woos rather than 
compels. 

14. Gentleness is the absence of sternness ; it is love. 
It takes the thunder out of the voice, and the frown from 
the face, and coldness from the heart, and harshness from 
the hand. 

15. Gentleness has never in any case produced re- 
sistance or rebellion ; has never made people worse, but 
in all cases .made them better. 

16. Power itself has not one-half the might of gen- 
tleness. 

17. Many an otherwise good child has been driven 
to wicked thoughts and deeds, by harsh or unkind words, 
when kind words would have acted as an incentive to do 
only what was right and best. 

18. A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making 
everything in its vicinity to freshen into smiles. 

19. Kind words are balm to the soul. They oil 
the entire machinery of life and keep it in good running 
order. 

20. It is kind treatment that the weary world most 
needs. 

21. Witty sayings are as easily lost as pearls slip- 
ping from a broken string, but a word of kindness is sel- 
dom spoken in vain. 

22. Loving kindness is greater than laws, and the 
charities of life are more than all ceremonies. 

23. The softest words make the deepest impression. 



90 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 8. Dignity. 

From lowest place when virtuous things proceed, 
The place is dignified by the doer's deed: 
When great additions swell, and virtues none, 
It is a dropsied honor. — Shakespeare. 

i. The real dignity of a man lies not in what he has, 
but what he is. 

2. Maintain dignity without the appearance of 
pride ; manner is something to everybody, and every- 
thing with some. 

3. Grand and dignified expressions must be looked 
for from those, and those alone, whose thoughts are ever 
employed on glorious and noble objects. 

4. True dignity is never gained by place, and never 
lost when honors are withdrawn. 

5. The dignity of a really great nature refuses itself 
to the insistent demands of all untempered ambitions. 

6. In addressing a person be sure to give him his 
proper title, as most people are jealous of their dignity. 

7. There is but one way of looking at fate, whether 
blessings or afflictions, to behave with dignity under 
both. 

8. To be idle and useless is neither an honor nor a 
privilege ; and though persons of small natures may be 
content merely to consume — men of average endowment, 
of manly aspirations, and of honest purpose, will feel such 
a condition to be incompatible with real honor and true 
dignity. 

9. There are not different kinds of dignity for dif- 
ferent orders of men, but one and the same for all. 

10. Restraint gives dignity and force. 

11. To wrangle with your inferiors compromises 
dignity, to insult them is coarse. 

12. Learn to enjoy yourself, to know the wealth 
that is in your own power — wisdom and goodness ; learn 
to assert the sovereignty and dignity of your soul. 

13. Dignity does not consist in hollowness and in 
light-handedness, but in substantiality and in strength. 



9i 

14. Good breeding carries along" with it a dignity 
that is respected by the most petulant. Ill breeding in- 
vites and authorizes the familiarity of the most timid. 

15. Learn to bend a little and not stand too much 
on your dignity. 

16. An assumed air of importance will produce an 
underestimate of your real worth. 

17. If you have an idea, express it ; if you are ardent, 
high-souled, show it ; if you have character, pronounce it. 

18. A man should never be ashamed to own that 
he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other 
words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday. 

19. Attend to that which concerns you; that which 
concerns you not, let alone. 

20. A man should be careful never to tell tales of 
himself to his own disadvantage. 

21. A noble manhood or womanhood will lift any 
legitimate calling into respectability. 

22. Never feel above your business. All legitimate 
occupations are respectable. 

23. What no gentleman should say no gentleman 
need answer. 

24. It is not wrong to be conscious of your own 
talents and ability. 

25. Never be defeated by defeat or careless from 
success. 

26. Avoid trifling conversation. 

27. Have nobility of character ; take and enjoy what 
you have. 

28. Keep cool and you command everybody. 

29. Deliberate with caution, but act with decision ; 
and yield with gracefulness, or oppose with firmness. 

30. You must learn to stand upright on your own 
feet, to respect yourself, to be independent of charity or 
accident. It is on this basis only that any superstruc- 
ture of intellectual cultivation worth having can possibly 
be built. 

31. A gentleman is dignified but not haughty. 



92 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 9. Dress. 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 

But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy; 
For the apparel oft proclaims the man. — Shakespeare. 

i. Clothes are one of the accepted standards by 
which men are judged, the world over. They form the 
chief standard of first impressions ; for this reason alone, 
it would be difficult to overestimate their importance. 
Nothing else about you reflects so much your personal 
characteristics. 

2. Always dress as neatly as possible. The expen- 
siveness of your apparel is not of so much importance but 
its freshness and cleanness are indispensable. 

3. Carefulness of dress ranks with politeness of 
manner. 

4. It is every woman's duty to make herself as beau- 
tiful as possible ; and no less the duty of every man to 
make himself pleasing in appearance. 

5. Neither virtue nor ability will make you appear 
like a gentlewoman if your dress is slovenly and im- 
proper. 

6. The well-dressed man is the one whose clothes 
do not make him the object of comment, either because 
they are showy or shabby. 

7. The men who disregard the customs of dress are, 
as a rule, the men who have no regard for honesty, or 
virtue, or character. 

8. There is little excuse for any man, who so de- 
sires, not being well dressed. Every cent a man puts 
into his clothes, so long as he stays within the limit of 
his income, is money well invested. 

9. The well dressed man is not always he who wears 
expensive clothes. To be neat and clean is more than 
half. 

10. To dress well requires something more than 
a full purse and pretty figure. It needs taste, good sense, 
and refinement. 

11. Dress is even more prominent than manner. 



93 

12. Dress does not make character but it often pro- 
claims it. 

13. Dress is a pretty sure index of the man or 
woman, and it has a great deal to do with personal ap- 
pearance, and therefore with success or failure in your 
undertakings. 

14. To be well dressed does not necessarily mean 
to be fashionably dressed. 

15. Everyone should dress in a style suitable to his 
business, and should be proud to wear the insignia of his 
trade or profession. 

16. There is an appropriateness in dressing to suit 
the place you occupy. 

17. Dress may almost be classed as one of the fine 
arts. It is certainly one of those arts, the cultivation of 
which is indispensable to any person moving in good 
society. 

18. The most important consideration in the mat- 
ter of dress is yourself. Good clothes are a part of the 
cement with which you build your self-respect. A lack 
of care of outward appearances nearly always begets a 
lack of care as to inward conditions. 

19. In early life dress helps to form the character, 
in later life it expresses it. 

20. Upon the minor details of the toilet depend, in 
a great degree, the health, as well as the beauty, of the 
individual. 

21. Among all classes of people, good clothes com- 
mand respect. 

22. Fashion has always held sway and always will. 
It is right that it should and that you should pay proper 
respect to it. 

23. A thoroughly agreeable man or woman is al- 
ways dressed appropriately for the function in which he 
or she shares, or for the business in hand. 

24. It is economy for every young man to dress 
well ; it is a recommendation to good society ; it is a 
stepping-stone to a higher position. It pays to dress 
well. 

25. Character, which cannot be concealed, pro- 
claims itself emphatically in your dress. 

26. Dress, like wealth, is a power. 



94 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 10. Simplicity. 

His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles; 
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate; 
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart; 
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth. 

— Shakespeare. 

1. Simplicity is the elimination of the non-essential 
in all things. It reduces life to its minimum of real needs ; 
raises it to its maximum of power. 

2. Simplicity means the survival — not of the fittest, 
but of the best. In morals it kills the weeds of vice and 
weakness so that the flowers of virtue and strength may 
have room to grow. 

3. Make simplicity the keynote of your life and 
you will be great, no matter though your life be humble 
and your influence seem but little. 

4. Simplicity in act is the outward expression of 
simplicity in thought. Men who carry on their shoul- 
ders the fate of a nation are quiet, modest, unassuming. 
They are often made gentle, calm and simple by the dis- 
cipline of their responsibilities. They have no room in 
their minds for the pettiness of personal vanity. 

5. Simplicity is the characteristic that is the most 
difficult to simulate. 

6. Nature is simple ; her grandeur lies in her sim- 
plicity. 

7. Nature in all her revelations, seeks to teach man 
the greatness of simplicity. Health is but the living of 
a physical life in harmony with a few simple, clearly 
denned laws. Simple food, simple exercise, simple pre- 
cautions will work wonders. 

8. Simplicity is opposed to complexity. The easiest 
way to accomplish everything is usually the simplest, 
and the most powerful forces of mind and matter are 
mostly found to be those in which there is the least com- 
plexity. 

9. Simplicity and sublimity are next of kin. 

10. Simplicity is never to be associated with weak- 
ness and ignorance. 



95 

ii. No character can be simple unless it is based 
on truth — unless it is lived in harmony with your con- 
science and ideals. 

12. Simplicity of character is the natural result of 
profound thought. 

13. Simplicity is one of the first laws of greatness, 
and another like unto it is humility. 

14. Simple methods are the best, in business as in 
most affairs of life. 

15. Simplicity cuts off waste and intensifies con- 
centration. It converts flickering torches into search- 
lights. 

16. Simplicity is the pure white light of a life lived 
from within. It is destroyed by any attempt to live in 
harmony with public opinion. 

17. Deprive yourself of nothing that is necessary 
to your comfort, but live in honorable simplicity and 
frugality. 

18. Simplicity in a character is like the needle of 
a compass — it knows only one point, its north, its ideal. 

19. To true simplicity, to perceive a truth is to 
begin to live it ; to see a duty is to begin to do it. 

20. Nothing great can ever enter into the mind of 
a man of simplicity and remain merely a theory. 

21. The art of expressing your thoughts in a clear, 
simple manner, is one of the first to be attained if you 
want to mix in good society. 

22. Cultivate simplicity in all things in your life. 

23. Be comprehensive and simple in all you say and 
write. 

24. The more habitual your virtues the less con- 
scious you are of them ; when they really become a part 
of your character, they almost sink out of sight. 

25. All great truths are simple. 

26. It is a charming quality of character, to be nat- 
ural in manner, frank, and free from affectation. 

2J. The greater part of life is lived in the lowly 
valley among plain people, who look at things from the 
average angle, and do not relish the unusual and the 
high-flown. 



9 6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 11. Cheerfulness. 

Cheerful looks make every dish a feast, 
And 'tis that crowns a welcome. — Massinger. 

1. Cheerfulness gives elasticity to the spirit; spec- 
tres fly before it ; difficulties cause no despair, for they 
are encountered with hope, and the mind acquires that 
happy disposition to improve the opportunities which 
lead to success. 

2. Cheerfulness makes the mind clear, gives tone 
to thought, adds grace and beauty to the countenance. 

3. Without cheerfulness there can be no healthy 
action, physical, mental, or moral, for it is the normal 
atmosphere of your being. 

4. Cheerfulness depends upon having beliefs, belief 
in friendship, belief in all that helps to make living beau- 
tiful. 

5. Cheerfulness is helpful every day and every 
minute. It is not necessary not to feel deep emotion 
and sorrow to exercise it, but it implies a power to rise 
from depressing influences and to exercise reason and 
courage in overcoming them. 

6. The world will be to each one of you very much 
what you make it. The cheerful are its real possessors, 
for the world belongs to those who enjoy it. 

7. Many a time a cheerful home and smiling face 
do more to make good men and women, than all the 
learning and eloquence that can be used. 

8. The person who carries a smiling countenance, 
keeping his troubles to himself, ever finds a welcome. 
He makes a host of friends, and impresses others with 
the belief that he must be successful in order to be so 
cheerful. This fact inspires confidence, and he conse- 
quently makes his way in the world where another, with 
more brains but less buoyancy, fails. 

9. A habit of cheerfulness, enabling you to trans- 
mute apparent misfortunes into real blessings, is a for- 
tune when just crossing the threshold of active life. 



97 

io. While cheerfulness of disposition is a great 
source of enjoyment in life, it is also a great safeguard 
of character. It furnishes the best soil for the growth 
of goodness and virtue. It gives lightness of heart and 
elasticity of spirit. It is the companion of charity, the 
nurse of patience, the mother of wisdom. It is also the 
best of moral and mental tonics. 

11. The cheerful are the busy. A busy life cannot 
well be otherwise than cheerful. 

12. Of all virtues cheerfulness is the most profit- 
able. While other virtues defer the day of recompense, 
cheerfulness pays down. 

13. Over and above every other social trait stands 
cheerfulness. 

14. Cheerfulness is an excellent wearing quality. 
It has been called the bright weather of the heart. It 
enables nature to recruit its strength ; whereas worry and 
discontent debilitate it, involving constant wear and tear. 

15. The presence of the cheerful in spirit acts like 
a beam of sunshine to the social circle. It warms and 
brightens. It softens and subdues. The quality is a 
happy one in every condition of life. 

16. Amiability is not only power; it is mental pro- 
gression, and health and happiness and long life to your- 
self and to your friends and family. 

17. One surly glance casts a gloom over the house- 
hold, while a smile, like a gleam of sunshine, may light 
up the darkest and weariest hours. 

18. Laughter is contagious, often the presence of 
one jovial spirit will affect a whole company. Invalids 
are always helped by a call from a smiling, hopeful 
friend. 

19. Humor is a saving grace of the mind, which 
prevents humanity from going to extremes. 

20. Although cheerfulness of disposition is very 
much a matter of inborn temperament, it is also capable 
of being trained and cultivated like any other habit. 

21. Cheerfulness is one of the essentials of domestic 
life. It should be cultivated with constant assiduity. 
Without it, fretfulness, peevishness, anxiety and col- 
lision are almost inevitable. 



9 8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VI. Part 12. Modesty. 

Lowliness is the base of every virtue: 

And he who goes the lowest, builds the safest. 

— Bailey. 

1. Modesty in general, which is a tacit allowance 
of imperfection, is itself considered as an amiable quality, 
and certainly heightens every other that is so. 

2. True modesty is quite compatible with a due 
estimate of your own worth, and does not demand the 
denial of merit. 

3. Modesty seldom resides in the breast that is not 
enriched with nobler virtues. 

4. Modesty is becoming, but does not require you 
to have no opinion or choice. 

5. Honor is due to those whose skill and persever- 
ance have carried them up, from step to step of the 
social ladder, if they remain becomingly modest and unaf- 
fected. 

6. Too much modesty sinks to a weakness. 

7. Modesty and dignity are consistent with one 
another ; they are complementary aspects of one and the 
same moral quality. 

8. Modesty, to rest upon any fixed, stable founda- 
tion, must rest upon an accurate knowledge of yourself. 

9. As modesty is the richest ornament of a woman, 
the want of it is her greatest deformity. 

10. The modest man has everything to gain, and 
the arrogant man everything to lose, for modesty has 
always to deal with generosity and arrogance with 
envy. 

11. Men and women who in any way injure their 
delicacy and modesty, by insensible degrees proceed to 
overt sin. 

12. All the world feels kindly toward a modest 
young man. He is hope and courage personified. He 
dares everything. 

13. Safety lies in diffidence and modesty, not in 
venturing and bravado. 



99 

14- Modesty is never to be allowed as a good qual- 
ity, but a weakness, if it suppresses virtue and hides it 
from the world, when you have at the same time a mind 
to exert yourself. 

15. Humility leads to the highest distinction, 
because it leads to self-improvement. Study your own 
character ; endeavor to learn and supply your own defi- 
ciencies. 

16. Humility is a virtue, but stooping too low to 
accomplish too little is a mistake. 

17. True humility neither rates self too high nor too 
low, but at the real worth. 

18. The object of humility is not show but service. 
You stoop, not that men may walk over you, but that 
you may serve them. 

19. The valley of humiliation has many lovely spots 
where the heartsease blooms and fragrant airs blow. 

20. The man who thinks himself inferior to his 
fellows deserves to be, and generally is. 

21. The world knows when shame and disgrace 
have pulled down the chaste banner of virtue and raised 
their own flag there. Every guest of the heart leaves 
his autograph upon the character. 

22. Riches without meekness and thankfulness do 
not make any man happy ; but riches with them remove 
many fears and cares. 

23. Every young man who has tasted of the cup 
of wisdom is a modest man. He does not boast of his 
strength ; he realizes that he needs every form of help he 
can secure ; he knows that there are restraints that are 
helpful, for there are mistakes both of omission and 
commission, and he puts himself in the way of influences 
that will hold him up in the time of trial. 

24. The truthful man is modest and makes no 
parade of himself and his deeds. 

25. The truly benevolent are modest and retiring, 
and shrink from all display and ostentation. 

26. Modest humility is beauty's crown. 

27. A modest countenance and pleasing figure, 
habited in an inexpensive attire, win more attention 
than awkwardness and effrontery, clad in the richest 
satins and costliest gems. 



LofC. 



100 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 1. Charity. 

Don't look for the flaws as you go through life, 

And even when you find them 
It's wise and kind to be somewhat blind, 

And look for the virtue behind them. 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 

1. Charity is made the constant companion and 
perfection of all virtue ; and well it is for that virtue 
where it most enters and longest stays. 

2. Charity does not alone consist in almsgiving, 
but there is a charity in bright looks, and in opening the 
eyes of the mentally blind ; and the noblest charity of 
all consists in coming to the aid of those who are deep 
in the slough of moral despond, and in raising the sinful 
and sorrowing. 

3. Work done for the elevation and improvement 
of the human race is the grandest charity. 

4. The aim of all charity should be to make those 
who are dependent on it independent of it. From this 
point of view all mere alms-giving, all that so-called 
charity which only serves to make the dependent classes 
more dependent, stands condemned. 

5. It is proper that alms should come out of a little 
purse as well as out of a great sack ; but when there is a 
plenty surely charity is a duty, not a courtesy ; it is a 
tribute imposed by God upon you, and you are not a good 
subject if you refuse to pay it. 

6. It is more blessed to give than to receive. 

7. The weariness of getting is easily overcome by 
the luxury of giving. 

8. In giving charity remember that the sentiment 
that prompts it is often of more value and more accept- 
able than the gift itself. 

9. The nearer you approach to charity the nearer 
you come to perfection, and the more likely are your 
imperfections to be overlooked and forgotten. 

10. Seeing how rain and sunshine are freely given 
to the evil and unthankful, you learn to measure your 
giving, not by men's deserts, but by their needs. 

11. True charity gives to the poor; it is always 



IOI 

slow to condemn another, and puts a favorable construc- 
tion on human faults and errors. 

12. The world must be ruled by kind and earnest 
guardianship, in which the irregularities of fortune are 
in part made up by the spontaneous charity of those who 
were better born. 

13. Charity will teach you to enter into the prob- 
lems of others, often unlike your own ; to put yourself in 
their places, to consider how you would act in their cir- 
cumstances; to fight their battles for them; and by this 
means your moral experience will be enlarged, and from 
being one, you become, as it were, many men. 

14. Helping others to help themselves is worth 
more than gifts of money. 

15. Give according to your means and be glad that 
you are in a position to do good. 

16. When everybody else denounces a man, Char- 
ity says : Wait, there is good in that man somewhere. 

17. Hospitality to the better sort and charity to the 
poor are two virtues that are never exercised so well as 
when they accompany each other. 

18. Be charitable and remember you have no use 
for wealth after you are dead. 

19. No one can exact charity. Its characteristic 
mark is supposed to be that it is freely given. 

20. Be charitable in thought as well as in deed. 

21. He that has pity on the poor lends to the 
Lord, and that which he has given will be repaid to him 
again. 

22. As cruelty melts before kindness, so the evil 
passions meet their antidote in sweet charity. 

23. Never forget the poor and distressed among 
you. 

24. The mantle of charity ought to be thrown 
around the faults of your fellow-beings. 

25. The greatest of all charities is in enabling the 
poor to earn a livelihood. 

26. Alleviate all that needs alleviation as far as lies 
in your power. 

27. It is always a delicate matter to make a gift 
to any one so as not to hurt self-respect and thus injure 
character. 



102 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 2. Advice. 

Apt words have power to suage 
The tumors of a troubled mind; 
And are as balm to festr'd wounds. — Milton. 

i. Advice has its value and those who are never 
urged to overcome their faults and failings are not so 
likely to do it as those who are advised to thus gain a 
moral victory over themselves. 

2. They are fools who despise good advice. Take 
good advice when it comes to you and seek it when it 
does not come. The best advisers are your parents. 
Tell them your plans, your hopes, your trials, your temp- 
tations. 

3. To ask for advice is a benefit, whether you follow 
the advice or not. Through talking a subject over with 
another, you get fresh side-lights into it, new avenues 
open up, and the whole question becomes larger and 
richer. 

4. Beautiful are the admonitions of those whose 
lives accord with their teachings. 

5. Do not take the advice of admiring friends alone, 
who will be sure to tell you that you can do anything 
and do it well, without a preliminary course of prepara- 
tion. 

6. An entirely new direction may be given to the 
life of a young man by a happy suggestion, a timely 
hint, or the kindly advice of an honest friend. 

7. Advice is seldom welcome. Those who need it 
most like it least. 

8. Every man, however wise, requires the advice 
of some sagacious friend, in the affairs of life. 

9. Advice is a duty you owe even the stranger, if 
you believe he errs, but the greatest delicacy must be 
exercised in giving it. 

10. Carefully consider the advice of a friend and 
still more carefully that of an enemy. 

11. Advice given through sincere motives should 
be kindly received though it may really be offensive. 



103 

12. Advice is usually given through pure motives, 
and it is well to consider all so given, though it is not 
prudent to always act on it. 

13. Advice is usually the result of the personal 
experience of those who offer it, and circumstances 
attending those experiences should be considered before 
acting on it. 

14. When advice is a matter of business interest, it 
is wholly unlike gratuitous advice, which, if you would 
be loved and esteemed, you would better keep strictly 
to yourself. 

15. If you mind your own business sincerely and 
constantly, you will know better when and of whom and 
in what manner to seek advice, and when you receive it 
you will value it at its true worth. 

16. Few persons have sufficient wisdom to prefer 
censure, which is useful, to praise, which deceives. 

17. The young man who is in earnest will not have 
to be advised how to succeed. 

18. Much good and well-intended advice and admo- 
nition go astray because given at the wrong time. 

19. Agreeable advice is seldom useful advice. 

20. They that will not be counselled cannot be 
helped. 

21. Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the 
multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

22. Speak not but that which may benefit others 
or yourself. 

23. Hearken to good advice and something may be 
done for you. 

24. A good maxim is never out of season. 

25. Pay no attention to criticism, but seek the chas- 
tening advice of friends. Do not be offended if your 
friends say unpleasant things to you. 

26. Nobody is more dreaded than the person who 
forces advice on his friends, and who persists in dictating 
a course of proceeding to those who do not in the least 
wish it. 

27. The giver of advice need not expect to be 
included in the list of agreeable people. 

28. Go to the ant, consider her ways, and be wise. 



io4 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 3. Reform. 

Nor deem the irrevocable past 

As wholly wasted, wholly vain, 

If, rising: on its wreck, at last, 

To something nobler we attain. 

— Longrfellow. 

i. There is no more enviable gift than the energy 
to sway others to good ; to diffuse around you an atmos- 
phere of cheerfulness, piety, truthfulness, generosity, 
magnanimity. It is not a matter of great talent; not 
entirely a matter of great energy; but rather of earnest- 
ness and honesty, and of that quiet, constant energy 
which is like soft rain gently penetrating the soil. 

2. The whole world needs awakening. Speak out 
and your speech will be welcome, wherever and on 
whatever particular subject of reform you choose to 
make yourself heard. Lift up your voice for that which 
is honest, lovely, and of good report, in words of kind 
earnestness, saying something because you believe in 
what you say, saying it with the genuine, unstinted elo- 
quence which comes right from the heart. 

3. All reforms must have an initiative, and the 
indispensable prerequisite is to get people to think. 

4. Even the gentlest natures are powerful to influ- 
ence the character of others for good. 

5. They who would reform themselves must begin 
with the smaller matters of life. 

6. You should try your best to correct the faults 
of others, while at the same time you are careful not 
to imitate them. 

7. The best moral antidote lies not in warnings, 
however particular, but in the positive nurture of char- 
acter, which is the real source of strength in the hour 
of temptation. 

8. It is a duty to reform every abuse, of whatever 
kind, that lies in your power. 

9. It is your province, above everything, to instruct 
men in virtue and truth. 

10. Never impose your own standard of morals 
on others. You can appeal to theirs, and try to find 



them out, but to impose yours on them is to take away 
their moral freedom. 

ii. All efforts made to benefit and elevate mankind 
must appeal to the individual peculiarities of each per- 
son, and be suitable for his special environment and the 
impressions that have been fixed on his mind. 

12. Man-mending is character building. 

13. Men cannot be raised in masses — they must be 
dealt with as units ; for it is only by the elevation of 
individuals that the elevation of the masses can be effec- 
tually secured. 

14. When you combat error with any other weapon 
than argument, you err more than those whom you 
attack. 

15. You are sometimes astonished to find that you 
are looking at things with other eyes than you used yes- 
terday. 

16. If at first you make a mistake do not continue 
to go down. 

17. The law should try to reform more than to 
punish. 

18. Arbitrary and severe punishment does not pro- 
portionately decrease crime ; crime has causes which 
may be removed ; and the individual needs to be treated 
beforehand preventively, rather than afterward, retri- 
butively. 

19. The main object of prison discipline is to reform 
the moral condition of the criminal, and to lead him back 
to the bosom of the society against which he has sinned. 
This, as a matter of justice, is due the criminal, who is 
often made so by the circumstances in which he has been 
brought up, by his w r ant of training, and by the unequal 
laws which society enacts. 

20. He indeed is getting the most out of life who 
does most to elevate mankind. 

21. It is not hard to stop just at the parting of the 
ways ; but when you have gone down the wrong road, 
there is no fixed halting place and the course is then ever 
downward, from bad to worse, until the worst is reached. 
It then becomes terribly hard for you to retrace your 
steps. 

22. Persuasion, not force, wins men to truth. 



io6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 4. Good-Will. 

Believe not each aspersing word, as many people do, 
But still believe that story false which ought not to be true. 

— Sheridan. 

1. With good will in your heart, you avoid friction 
and conflict, and can do your work with half the energy 
and force. Try it, because it gives you enthusiasm, 
momentum, courage, and spirit in everything you say 
or do. 

2. Everybody loves the sunny soul. His very face 
is a passport everywhere. All doors fly open to him. 
He disarms prejudice and envy, for he bears good-will 
to everybody. He is as welcome in every household as 
the sunshine. 

3. No quality will get you more friends than a 
sincere admiration of the qualities of others. It indicates 
generosity of nature, frankness, cordiality, and a cheerful 
recognition of merit. 

4. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do 
good to them that hate you, and forgive them that 
despitefully use you, and persecute you. 

5. Everybody likes the man who does more than he 
promises. 

6. Amiability means harmony in the home, in 
society, everywhere ; and harmony is health, is longevity, 
is happiness. 

7. He that is cautious of insulting the weakest and 
not above obliging the lowest, will have attained such 
habits of forbearance and of complacency as will secure 
him the good-will of all that are beneath him, and teach 
him how to avoid the enmity of all that are above him. 

8. Try love's way because love begets love. It 
draws the whole world around you and puts you in com- 
munication with the best it has, while hatred drives men 
away from you. 

9. Good thoughts are blessed guests, and should 
be heartily welcomed, well nourished and much sought 
after. 

10. If you say anything about a neighbor or friend, 
or even a stranger, say no ill. 



107 

ii. Never judge one another, but attribute a good 
motive when possible. 

12. Grow wider, broader in your thoughts and 
ways of looking at things ; outgrow and eliminate all 
petty, suspicious, picayunish ways of regarding matters 
and people. 

13. Learn to take people at their best, not their 
worst ; to look for the divine, not the human, in them ; 
the beautiful, not the ugly ; the bright, not the dark ; the 
straight, not the crooked side. 

14. If you do not possess a living and strong will 
that leads the way to good, you will either become a 
plaything of sensual desires or pass a life of shameless 
indolence. 

15. You ought to do at once and without delay 
whatever you owe to your neighbors ; to make them wait 
for what is due them is the essence of injustice. 

16. A man of true feeling is naturally indignant at 
baseness of any sort, even in cases where he may be 
under no obligation to speak out. 

17. Anything that turns your thoughts to your 
fellow-men, that makes the heart to receive them, is 
good and proper, for you should think of others as often 
as of yourself. 

18. Kindliness of disposition, expressed in gracious- 
ness of conduct, contributes in a large degree to the 
advancement of the person who fosters it. 

19. A noble nature carries sunshine with it wher- 
ever it goes; a sunshine which means pity for the poor, 
sympathy for the suffering, help for the unfortunate, and 
benignity towards all. 

20. In all emotion there is a right and wrong. 
Behind every wrong deed there is a wrong feeling. The 
bad act is merely the visible sign of the bad emotion. 

21. Unless the direction of the character be right, 
the strong will may be merely a power for mischief. 

22. The respect of your fellow-men is in itself a 
source of happiness and a moral prop, and besides, the 
greatest help in achieving the legitimate purposes of 
life. He who has the confidence of others has wings to 
bear him along. 



io8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 5. Mercy. 

The quality of mercy is not strained; 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd; 

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. 

— Shakespeare. 

1. Mercy is one of the nobler attributes of your 
nature. The man who can look with a lenient eye upon 
the errors of his fellow-creatures ; who, seeing they have 
done wrong, is willing to make allowances, and to urge 
them to return to the paths of rectitude and of duty, is 
indeed a Christian in the true, the real, the ennobling 
sense. 

2. Mercy is that quality of disposition which leads 
you to treat an offender better than he deserves. 

3. Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. 

4. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged. 

5. A manly man loves mercy. It is more than pity 
and compassion for the deserving. It is kindness to 
the unthinking and evil. 

6. It is not natural for a sinful man to have a 
merciful disposition. 

7. Mercy is tenderness, forbearance, and forgive- 
ness. It is thinking, toiling, suffering for others. It is 
love in exercise. 

8. Mercy must have a kind heart and a helping 
hand for those who never have been worthy, and prob- 
ably never will be. 

9. The love of mercy is not met by the perfunctory 
discharge of it. 

10. The dumb animals that can only voice their 
love with the patient service they render day by day, 
and speak their gratitude with their eyes, need a friend. 
Man has the sovereignty of the world. Then he is to 
protect, not only those of his own kind, but every crea- 
ture of his kingdom — the birds in the air, the herds on 
the hillside, and the flocks in the valley. 

11. It may be taken for granted that almost every 
man needs a word of good cheer. 



109 

12. Do not think every man is bad because one 
proves to be a rascal. 

13. There is no more noble hearted being than the 
individual who goes about encouraging and consoling, 
who has a good word on all occasions, and who endeav- 
ors, not only to render his own pathway as bright and 
as cheerful as possible, but to inspire confidence, hope 
and courage in the minds and hearts of others. 

14. You should be sensitive to the wants and sor- 
rows around you. 

15. Many a poor fellow has gone down from way- 
wardness to disgrace, from disgrace to debauch, and 
from debauch to infamy, because society was heartless 
and unhelping. 

16. Feeling is your grandest accomplishment. It 
is the crown and glory of character. 

17. The man or woman who can regard with in- 
difference the sufferings of dumb animals is likely to be 
callous to human suffering also. 

18. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain 
mercy. 

19. When the gates of society are shut, the gates 
of mercy are not shut. 

20. Impose not a task upon any one beyond his 
ability. 

21. Men are to be estimated by what they accom- 
plish — not what they are unable to do. 

22. Forgiving from the heart is loving mercy and 
delighting in it. 

23. Efforts should be made to win the erring from 
their first misdeeds, to forgive them for the past, and 
cheer them on to better conduct for the future. 

24. It is as necessary to learn how to express 
kindly feelings in a gracious way as to possess them. 

25. The poor and unfortunate are your opportuni- 
ty, your character builders, the great schoolmasters of 
your moral growth. 

26. It is presumed that each one has trouble enough 
of his own to bear without being burdened with the 
sorrows of others. 

27. It is easy enough to do good if the doing is 
natural and without thought of self-glorification. 



no 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 6. Forgiveness. 

In men whom men condemn as ill, 

I find so much of goodness still; 

In men whom men pronounce divine, 

I find so much of sin and blot 

I hesitate to draw the line 

Between the two where God has not. 

— Joaquin Miller. 

1. Forgiveness is refraining from malice and re- 
venge, but it is not necessary to restore confidence and 
place yourself again at the mercy of the wrong doer. 
This may be done after consideration and is the preroga- 
tive of judgment. 

2. He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge 
over which he must pass himself ; for every man has 
need to be forgiven. 

3. Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying 
for forgiveness, or else forgiving another. 

4. You shall best fortify your patience under in- 
juries by remembering how much you yourself have to 
be forgiven. 

5. Forgiveness is the greatest virtue in him who 
has suffered the greatest wrong. 

6. The brave only know how to forgive ; it is the 
most refined and generous pitch of virtue at which 
human nature can arrive. 

7. It is but simple truth to say that forgiveness 
is a trait that belongs to every noble character. 

8. All are more or less liable to temptation — the 
temptation of feeling, of passion, of prejudice, of ambi- 
tion, and of interest, and if, having yielded in any one 
case, the door of penitence and forgiveness should be 
closed against you, your lot would be embittered through 
life. 

9. Forgiveness should be exercised for your own 
peace of mind if for no other reason. 

10. The malignity that never forgets nor forgives 
is found only in base and ignoble natures, whose aims 
are selfish, and whose means are indirect, cowardly and 
treacherous. 



Ill 

11. It is only against the man who willfully and 
deliberately chooses the wrong- course that the door of 
forgiveness is closed. For every other there is always 
an opportunity of retreading his steps — of abandoning 
evil and seeking right. 

12. You will always be liable to errors of judgment. 
In short, you will need to be forgiven. You will be 
most excellent subjects for charity. You should be 
willing to grant fair play to everybody; you should not 
expect to receive more than you are disposed to give. 

13. Who would not revolt at the idea of having the 
door of forgiveness closed against him — of being doomed 
to suffer, no matter how deep his contrition or how 
severe his penalty of regret, remorse and punishment? 

14. None of you have, perhaps, the sweetest tem- 
pers, but if you have, the way to prove it is by forgive- 
ing those who have not. 

15. In the little affairs of everyday life, and in the 
home, is there need of showing the spirit of forgiveness. 

16. It often happens that a simple explanation will 
give an entirely new view to conduct that was first 
thought to be very reprehensible. For this reason it is 
important that you should meet all enmity in a charita- 
ble spirit and should be ready to forgive. 

17. You need not be blind to another's failings, but 
they may, at least, be borne with good-natured forbear- 
ance. 

18. A penitent should be welcomed again to the 
fold of virtue. 

19. If there is any one virtue which is worthy of 
an earnest culture in every human mind — if there is any 
one thing more needed than any other, it is the spirit of 
forgiveness. 

20. A woman can forgive almost anything in a man 
but weakness and cowardice. These she refuses to over- 
look — and rightly, too. 

21. You should forgive many things in others, but 
nothing in yourself. 

22. It is more easy to forgive the weak who have 
injured you than the powerful whom you have injured. 

23. The art of forgetting is a blessed art, but the 
art of overlooking is quite as important. 



112 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 7. Criticism. 

What looks to thy dim eyes a stain. 

In God's pure light may only be 

A scar brought from some well-won field, 

Where thou wouldst only faint and yield. 

— Adelaide A. Proctor. 

1. All criticism worthy of the name is the ripe 
fruit of combined intellectual insight and long expe- 
rience. 

2. A good critic, like a good judge, should be gov- 
erned purely by the law and the evidence. 

3. Criticism should be based on the desire to dis- 
cover truth, and an earnest care to be consistent in 
thought and fact. A sound self-critic is sure to pro- 
gress. 

4. It is the function of true criticism to hold up 
the highest standard and make all work toward the ideal 
achievement. 

5. In your criticism of others you should be mirrors 
reflecting beauties and excellences as faithfully as blem- 
ishes and deformities. 

6. Candor is the brightest gem of criticism. 

7. The man who tries to succeed must expect to 
be criticised. 

8. Do not criticise the man who is accomplishing 
something. 

9. The dread of sweeping criticism makes cowards 
of all and prevents honest expression of convictions. 

10. Children have more need of models than of 
critics. 

11. Healthful criticism should always be invited 
and tolerated; but there is a right and a wrong time to 
apply it. 

12. It is better to think all you say than to say 
all you think. 

13. It is very ungentlemanly to be found criticis- 
ing young ladies. 

14. The world is a whispering gallery which re- 
turns the echo of your own voice. What you say of 
others is said of you. 



H3 

15. The man who takes the widest view is always 
the one who makes the most moderate statements, and 
the strongest characters are generally the simplest in 
speech. 

16. To dare to be yourself, whatever other people 
think, is right. To be superior to censure or praise is 
an ideal which has come down from the ancients. 

17. You are not to too nicely scrutinize motives, 
as long as action is irreproachable. 

18. You should not be too hasty in bestowing eith- 
er your praise or your censure on mankind, since you 
shall often find such a mixture of good and evil in the 
same character that it may require a very accurate judg- 
ment and a very elaborate inquiry to determine on which 
side the balance turns. 

19. Judge yourself with the judgment of sincerity 
and you will judge others with the judgment of charity. 

20. It is not by his faults but by his excellences 
that you must measure a man. 

21. To judge a man wisely you must view him 
from all sides. He must be seen not only in prosperity, 
but in adversity. 

22. You cannot measure a man by his failures. 
You must know what use he makes of them. 

23. Do not pass a hasty judgment on men's mo- 
tives. They may be cherishing noble aspirations even 
while the world condemns. 

24. It is far easier to see the foibles of others than 
to overlook or avoid them. 

25. Ridiculing another for doing something is a 
good way for you to advertise your own failures. 

26. Do not rely on the criticism of friends if you 
ever expect to develop your talents. 

2.7. Never charge a bad motive if a good one is 
conceivable. 

28. Place yourself in the other man's place. 

29. One of the most common faults is to judge and 
condemn on light evidence. 

30. It is dangerous alike to give or withhold as- 
sent; therefore you ought to investigate strictly the 
truth rather than allow an erroneous impression to per- 
vert your judgment. 



H4 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 8. Generosity. 

Great minds, like heaven, are pleased in doing- good, 
Though the ungrateful subjects of their favors 
Are barren in return. — Rowe. 

1. Unless generosity of spirit prevails among men 
there never can be upon earth an ideal life. 

2. Generosity is charity for your equals and those 
who may be pure in heart and bountiful in goods. It 
is a willingness to be of service to anybody without re- 
gard to their needs, but does not necessarily imply sac- 
rifice. 

3. When a man is blessed with prosperity he 
should acquire a relish for the joys of generosity. 

4. If -you are frank and generous, the world will 
treat you kindly; if on the contrary, you are suspicious, 
men learn to be cold and cautious to you. 

5. Never resist impulses of generosity; they will 
make you cheerful and healthy. They will give color 
to your cheeks and make you young in spirit when you 
are old in years. 

6. The principles of good breeding are all found 
in generosity. 

7. Be generous when urged by motives of human- 
8. Generosity often follows the possession of rich- 
es, but riches are slow in coming to the generous. 

9. Generosity of heart and a genial good will to- 
wards all are absolutely essential to him who would pos- 
sess fine manners. 

10. The just and generous spirit softens hatred and 
hard-heartedness. 

11. The generous heart should scorn a pleasure 
which gives others pain. 

12. The privilege of generosity is one of the great- 
est perquisities which attach to abundance of any sort. 

13. Courage is generosity of the highest order, for 
the brave are prodigal of the most precious things. 



H5 

14. It needs as much generosity to take as to give. 

15. Unless a man is generous he is seldom just. 

16. Generosity and tenderness are honored and 
trusted; grinding heartlessness has risks greater than 
its gains, and is used only by the desperate. 

17. By taking revenge you are but even with your 
enemy ; but in passing over it, you are superior. 

18. Everyone stands in need of toleration, of for- 
giveness, and of forbearance. 

19. It is necessary for the good of humanity that 
the interests of the one be subservient to the interests 
of the many, but it does not follow that an indiscriminate 
surrender of your own personal interests always bene- 
fits society. On the contrary, a steady insistence on the 
rights of the individual is essential to the integrity of 
the social structure and its right workings. 

20. Every man has his peculiarities of manner and 
character, as he has peculiarities of form and feature; 
you must have forbearance in dealing with them, as you 
expect them to have forbearance in dealing with you. 

21. Be forbearant towards those who differ from 
you, provided they observe patiently, think honestly, 
and utter their convictions freely and truthfully. 

22. The wise and forbearant man will restrain his 
desire to say a smart or severe thing at the expense of 
another's feelings. 

23. With tact, and tenderness, and patience, it may 
be given you to help to remove what may be flaws in a 
fine character; and in any case it is foolish to forget the 
great virtues of your friend in fretful irritation at a few 
blemishes. 

24. Nothing is so odious as that insensibility which 
wraps a man up in himself and his own concerns, and 
prevents his being moved with the joys or the sorrows 
of another. 

25. Most of the good that is done to the poor, the 
outcast and the criminal, is done by personal contact. 



n6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 9. Reciprocity. 

Be noble! and the nobleness that lies 
In other men, sleeping, but never dead, 
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own. 

— James Russell Lowell. 

1. Each is to assist the other; the strong the weak, 
the rich the poor, the learned the ignorant ; and to re- 
verse the order those who have least are no less to assist 
those who have most. 

2. Man does not live for himself alone. He lives 
for the good of others as well as himself. 

3. Communication enriches, reticence impoverishes. 
Communion is strength, solitude is weakness. 

4. A gentleman expects from none what he is not 
willing to yield to all. 

5. Pay respect to all, but most to those who pay 
you the most, provided it is sincere and timely. 

6. No human being ever perfectly understands an- 
other. 

7. While friendship is a very sweet and beautiful 
thing, its essence is reciprocity. 

8. Men are joined together by common experience. 

9. No individual can develop into the largest man- 
hood or womanhood alone. 

10. Do to others as you would that they should do 
to you. 

11. Comradeship is one of the finest facts and one 
of the strongest forces in life. A mere strong man, how- 
ever capable, and however singly successful, is of little 
account to himself. 

12. Men of the noblest dispositions think them- 
selves happiest when others share their happiness with 
them. 

13. No man has come to true greatness who has not 
felt in some degree that his life belongs to his race, and 
that what God gives him, He gives him for mankind. 

14. Men have an inherent disposition to refer all 
that they say and do to the thoughts and feelings of 
others. 



ii7 

15. Civilities always merit acknowledgement. 

16. No individual in the universe stands alone; he 
is a component part of a system of mutual dependencies ; 
and by his several acts he either increases or diminishes 
the sum of human good. 

17. The educated youth will recognize that others 
do not exist merely for his benefit; he will see that the 
highest good for each lies in mutual reciprocity. An 
education which does not achieve these results, which 
does not bring sweetness and light, harmony and power 
into the life, is no education at all. 

18. You have no right to choose your occupation 
from a selfish standpoint. When you cheat others you 
are cheating yourself. 

19. In the evolution of your powers do not think 
of yourself alone. If you succeed, let it be that you 
may share your talents with others ; if you acquire, let 
it be that others may enjoy the glow of your prosperity. 

20. Man is made for co-operation. Savages unite 
only in war. Civilized people unite in work. The evo- 
lution of association is the evolution of civilization. 

21. Men co-operate with each other for the mutual 
sustenance of all. 

22. Co-operation fails only when men are not hon- 
est. 

23. Two are better far than one for all purposes; 
they not only accomplish twice the work, but they fre- 
quently multiply it many times by their co-operation. 

24. All improvements in the productive power of 
labor, including division of employment, depend upon 
co-operation. 

25. It is one of the beautiful compensations of life, 
that no man can sincerely try to help another without 
helping himself. 

26. When succeeding best for yourself you are suc- 
ceeding best for others. 

27. Neighborliness is not only a virtue, but an en- 
joyment. It is also one of the most effectual ways of 
influencing others for good. 

28. All that makes existence valuable to any one 
depends on the enforcement of restraints upon the ac- 
tions of other people. 



n8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 10. Sacrifice. 

Fail — yet rejoice; because no less 
The failure which makes thy distress 
May teach another full success. — Anon. 

i. There is a law in the universe that things must 
be sacrificed before they can show what is in them and 
what they are good for; nothing can be gained, nothing 
can be done without cost. 

2. From the blacksmith's muscle to the million- 
aire's stocks there is a law inherent in strength of every 
kind that it must be used. If you should try to hoard 
and keep it, it will canker and rust, and will become a 
curse and a snare. 

3. The beginning of mental or moral progress or 
reform is always renunciation and sacrifice. 

4. You must sacrifice yourself if you would make 
the most of yourself. 

5. The atmosphere of duty is the atmosphere of 
self-sacrifice, and he who breathes it must get above self- 
glorification and self-seeking. 

6. There are many ready to make great sacrifices, 
who neglect those little acts of kindness which make 
many other lives brighter and happier. 

7. There are times when the individual must act 
for the people in ways that will mean sacrifice and loss 
to him of the gravest character. 

8. Another may need much courage to encounter, 
without sinning, things which have no power to entice 
you, and by making sacrifices for another's sake you help 
remove the obstacles from his way. 

9. The sacrifice of individual life is impressive and 
noble if the object for which it is made is worthy. 

10. It is the part of wisdom to sacrifice the less to 
the greater good. 

11. The character of a man does not depend on 
whether his efforts are immediately followed by failure 
or success. The martyr is not a failure if the truth for 



ii9 

which he suffered acquires a fresh lustre through his 
sacrifice. 

12. There must always be an outlay. There is no 
escaping the cost. Sacrifice is a great secret of success. 

13. Nothing brings any good fruit except what is 
earned by either the work of the hands or by self-denial. 
Sacrifices must be ever going on if you would obtain any 
comfort or happiness. 

14. There never did and never will exist anything 
permanently noble and excellent in a character which 
was a stranger to the exercise of resolute self-denial. 

15. Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasur- 
able, and you create for the world a destiny more sub- 
lime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest 
dreamer. 

16. The road to distinction must be paved with 
years of self-denial and hard work. 

17. Reasonable self-denial is a thousand fold better 
for a boy than to have his every wish gratified. 

18. They are the greatest who toil and suffer and 
practice self-denial for its own sake. 

19. The best men and women have never been self- 
seekers. They have given themselves to others without 
regard to glory or fame. They have found their best 
reward in the self-consciousness of duty performed. 

20. It belongs to noble souls to yield when there 
is good occasion for yielding. 

21. The names of the men who have suffered in 
the cause of religion, of science, and of truth, are the 
men, of all others, whose memories are held in the great- 
est esteem and reverence by mankind. 

12. It is not the man who gives his money that is 
the true benefactor of his kind, but the man who gives 
himself. 

23. Most anybody can do a thing he feels like do- 
ing, but it takes a true man t© do a thing when he does 
not feel like doing it. 

24. Self-sacrificing devotion in the service of those 
who need your help, is the loftiest element of high breed- 
ing. 



120 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 11. Sympathy. 

It is the secret sympathy, 

The silver link, the silken tie, 

Which heart to heart, and mind to mind, 

In body and in soul can bind. — Walter Scott. 

1. Sympathy is one of the great secrets of a happy 
and successful life. It overcomes evil and strengthens 
good. It disarms resistance, melts the hardest heart, 
and develops the better part of human nature. 

2. Sympathy glorifies humanity. Its synonym is 
love. It goes forth to meet the wants and necessities of 
the sorrow-stricken and oppressed. 

3. The world is ruled by sympathy — by the nat- 
ural instincts of love and compassion. 

4. Sympathy is founded on love. It is but another 
word for disinterestedness and affection. You assume 
another's state of mind; you go out of yourself and 
inhabit another's personality. 

5. Sympathy is not a quality merely needed in 
adversity. It is needed as much when the sun shines. 
It is sometimes easier to weep with those who weep than 
to rejoice with those who rejoice. 

6. It is by sympathy that you enter into the con- 
cerns of others ; that you are moved as they are moved 
and cannot be indifferent spectators of almost anything 
which men can do and suffer. 

7. What sustains a man is an atmosphere of sym- 
pathy and love — the thought that he has been remem- 
bered, that his brother has given him what he could. 

8. You often do more good by your sympathy than 
by your labors, and render the world a more lasting ser- 
vice by absence of jealousy and recognition of merit, 
than you could ever render by the straining efforts of 
personal ambition. 

9. There can be no love without sympathy; there 
can be no friendship without sympathy. 

10. Cherish sympathy. By attention and exercise 



121 



it may be improved in every man. It prepares the mind 
for receiving the impressions of virtue ; and without it 
there can be no true politeness. 

ii. Sympathy quite as often leads astray as aright; 
unless it is tutored and regulated by moral principles, it 
is a danger against which you ought to be on your guard 
almost as much as against selfishness. 

12. Humor is one of the most human of qualities, 
linking itself so closely with sympathy and pathos, you 
seldom find them separated. The fountains of laughter 
and of tears lie very close together. 

13. Sympathy, when allowed to take a wider range, 
assumes the larger form of public philanthropy. It influ- 
ences man in the endeavor to elevate his fellow creat- 
ures from a state of poverty and distress, to improve 
the condition of the masses of the people, and to diffuse 
the results of civilization far and wide among mankind. 

14. While reason maintains its empire over the 
mind there is no heart so callous or obdurate that the 
voice of sympathy and kindness may not reach it. 

15. Through the sympathetic feelings you become 
aware of the pains and joys of others, and thus of the 
consequences of the benefits you confer or the evil you 
inflict. They tell you that others suffer or are glad and 
supply the information on which you may act. 

16. In all misfortunes the greatest consolation is 
a sympathizing friend. 

17. Wherever there is cruelty, or ignorance, or mis- 
ery, sympathy stretches forth its hand to console and 
alleviate. 

18. As a man's sympathetic knowledge of the world 
increases ; that is, as he knows more of the world, and 
learns to recognize in it the elements of progress, and 
feels in himself a growing desire to assist, he becomes 
a better man. 

19. If you exclude sympathy and wrap yourself in 
a cold chain-armor of selfishness, you exclude yourself 
from many of the greatest and purest joys of life. 



122 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VII. Part 12. Silence. 

A thousand glorious actions, that might claim 

Triumphant laurels, and immortal fame, 

Confus'd in crowds of glorious actions lie, 

And troops of heroes undistinguished die. — Addison. 

1. The face is such an index of character that the 
very growth of the latter can be traced on the former. 
The most common vices that are shown on the face 
are pride, sensuality, fear, cruelty, and bad temper. There 
is no beautifier of the face like a beautiful spirit. 

2. A man who lives right and is right, has more 
power in his silence than another has by his words. 

3. A man of character has no ears for slander, 
never takes an unfair advantage, and interprets every- 
thing for the best. 

4. A quiet tongue shows a wise head. 

5. All the forces in nature that are the most pow- 
erful are the quietest. 

6. If there is any person whom you dislike, that is 
the one of whom you should never speak. 

7. There is probably nothing else by which so 
many people offend as by the tongue. 

8. There is often a power in silence which no 
speech can equal. 

9. Silence is your most effective weapon. 

10. Better a thousand times stand dumb than to 
eloquently speak in the disparagement of others. 

11. To think twice before you speak once is an 
excellent rule. First thoughts are frequently rash and 
necessarily incomplete. 

12. Half the trouble in life would be saved if peo- 
ple would remember that silence is golden, when they 
are irritated or annoyed. 

13. Silence is sometimes the severest criticism. 

14. To persevere in your duty and be silent, is the 
best answer to calumny. 



123 

15. Noise is weakness. Bluster is inferiority rising 
into consciousness. 

16. Not that which goes into the mouth denies a 
man ; but that which comes out of the mouth, this denies 
a man. 

17. The first virtue is to restrain the tongue. He 
approaches nearest to God who knows how to be 
silent, even though he is in the right. 

18. Remember that, valuable as is the gift of 
speech, silence is often more valuable. 

19. Character exhibits itself in self-control of 
speech as much as in anything else. 

20. If you talk much, you are likely to say things 
which, though you may forget them as soon as they are 
spoken, will be remembered against you. 

21. Intend to communicate the essential facts to 
those who are capable of making rational use of them ; 
but it is frequently necessary to withhold the truth when 
the truth would unnecessarily do harm. 

22. He who is suspected for any reason, true or 
false, strikes against invisible barriers at every step. 
Nothing is so sensitive as character — a mere breath may 
tarnish it. It is therefore the gravest kind of injury to 
your neighbors to disseminate damaging rumors, to 
throw out dark hints and suggestions with respect to 
them, or to impugn their motives. 

23. A good word is an easy obligation ; but not to 
speak ill, requires only your silence, which costs nothing. 

24. It is necessary to your personal happiness, to 
exercise control over your words as well as acts; for 
there are words that strike even harder than blows ; 
and men may speak daggers though they use none. 

25. Be swift to hear but cautious how you repeat it. 

26. People will like you all the more the less you 
have to say, and the more you listen, or seem to listen, 
to what they say. 



124 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIM. Part 1. Disposition. 

Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor: 

For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich; 

And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, 

So honor peereth in the meanest habit. — Shakespeare. 

1. A good disposition is more valuable than gold; 
for the latter is the gift of fortune, but the former is the 
dower of nature. 

2. The disposition of every human being depends 
on their innate constitution and their early surround- 
ings; the comfort or discomfort of the homes in which 
they have been brought up ; their inherited character- 
istics and the examples, good or bad, to which they have 
been exposed through life. 

3. Youth, pre-eminently, is the forming, fixing 
period, the spring season of disposition and habit; and 
it is during this season, more than any other, that the 
character assumes its perfect shape and color, and the 
young are wont to take their course for time and 
eternity. 

4. It is the kindly dispositioned men who are the 
active men of the world, while the selfish and the skep- 
tical, who have no love but for themselves, are the 
idlers. 

5. One cheerful, bright, and contented disposition 
in a household will uplift the tone of all the rest. 

6. Cleanliness in person, in speech, and in work, 
is always the accompaniment of a sweet disposition. 

7. A man may be feeble in organization, but, 
blessed with a happy disposition, his soul may be great, 
active, noble and sovereign. 

8. Encourage the disposition of looking at the 
bright side of things, instead of the darkest, and while 
you see the cloud, do not shut your eyes to the silver 
lining. 

9. A cheerful, serene spirit is the source of all 
that is noble and good. Whatever is accomplished of 



125 

the greatest and the noblest sort flows from such a dis- 
position. Petty, gloomy souls that only mourn the past 
and dread the future, are not capable of seizing on the 
holiest moments of life. 

10. It is a happy thing that life is not all trouble 
and difficulty. You will have your bright days, and you 
will have a good many of them, if your disposition is 
bright and sunny. 

ii. Refrigerated dispositions have a most depress- 
ing influence on all those who fall under the spell of their 
radiated chilliness. 

12. It is a happy possession, this patient, forgiving, 
charitable disposition, that makes the brightest day still 
brighter by its own delightful cheer. 

13. Beautiful is the cheerful and the buoyant dis- 
position. Life to such is all bright and beautiful. 
Every new scene has a charm, every fresh incident an 
interest. A kind word is ever on the lips, a gentle 
thought is ever in the heart, a pleasant smile is ever on 
the countenance. 

14. A pleasant disposition will make the whole 
surroundings ring with cheerfulness. 

15. If light is in a man, he shines; if darkness, he 
shades; if his heart glows with love, he warms; if frozen 
with selfishness, he chills ; if corrupt, he poisons ; if 
pure-hearted, he cleanses. 

16. It is not what you do, but the spirit in which 
you perform your work, which has the most important 
influence on your character. 

17. A propensity to hope and joy is true riches ; one 
to fear and sorrow, real poverty. 

18. When men act, and think, and speak, and feel, 
out of a generous, merciful, peaceful, kindly spirit, then 
their highest level is attained, human nature comes to 
its finest flower, and the fullest fruitage of life is sure. 

19. Efforts to be permanently useful, must be uni- 
formly joyous ; a disposition all sunshine, graceful from 
very gladness, beautiful because bright. 



126 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIII. Part 2. Optimism. 

Let's find the sunny side of men, 

Or be believers in it; 
A light there is in every soul 

That takes the pains to win it. 
O, there's a slumbering- good in all, 

And we, perchance, may wake it; 
Our hands contain the magic wand, — 

This life is what we make it. — Anon. 

i. The optimist sees an upward look in the ten- 
dency of the world, and sees that the aspiration of man- 
kind is toward the higher and better, not toward the 
lower and worse. 

2. A really successful man must be optimistic; he 
must thoroughly believe in the good, the beautiful, and 
the true. 

3. The art of optimism lies in laying all emphasis, 
not on what has happened, or is to happen, but on some 
end and aim which runs through all your experience, 
and gives to your activity a worthy goal, and to yourself 
abundant exercise and growth. 

4. The serene optimist is one whose mind has 
dwelt so long on the sunny side of life that he has 
acquired a habit of cheerfulness. 

5. Live an active life, intent on the progress you 
can make and the work you can accomplish, and you 
will acquire the art of optimism, and be happy for ever- 
more. 

6. If you attack life strenuously, seeing in hate the 
challenge to a love strong enough to conquer it; and in 
pain a sting to a joy intense enough to endure it ; and in 
moral evil a call to battle against it, and the promise of 
victory over it; then you shall find the world a glorious 
place to live and die in. 

7. In present evil the optimist sees prospective 
good ; in pain, he recognizes the effort of nature to 
restore health; in trials, he finds correction and disci- 
pline ; and in sorrow and suffering he gathers courage, 
knowledge and the best practical wisdom. 



127 

8. Every optimist belongs to the assets of his race ; 
every pessimist is a dead loss. 

9. The morality of optimism lies in its energising 
touch. It gives you courage, it sweetens toil and makes 
every effort seem light compared to the goal lying 
beyond. 

10. There is sound logic underlying the philosophy 
of optimism ; nothing can be accomplished without hope, 
which is the foundation of success and inseparable from 
the optimistic view. 

11. Optimists are so happily constituted that they 
find good in everything. There is no calamity so great 
but they can educe comfort or consolation from it — no 
sky so black but they can discover a gleam of sunshine 
issuing through it: and if the sun be not visible to their 
eyes, they at least comfort themselves with the thought 
that it is there, though veiled from them for some good 
reason. 

12. The world you live in is a world of mingled 
good and evil. Whether it is chiefly good or bad 
depends on how you take it. If you are happy it is 
largely to your own credit. If you are miserable it is 
chiefly your fault. 

13. As a rule everything happens for the best. 

14. Hopefulness, a sanguine turn of mind, a ten- 
dency to look on the bright side, are of the greatest value 
in character. 

15. There is always before or around you that 
which should cheer the heart with warmth and gladness. 

16. Always, everywhere, to yourself and to every- 
one else, insist upon it that the present is far from being 
as bad as it might be, and that there is a better time 
coming. 

17. A habit of looking for the best of everything, 
and of saying kindly instead of unkindly things about 
others, strengthens the character, elevates the ideals, and 
tends to produce happiness. 

18. Educate the will power so that it will focus 
the thoughts upon the bright side of things, and upon 
objects which elevate the soul, and thus form a habit of 
happiness and goodness which will make you rich. 



128 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIII. Part 3. Contentment. 

Why thus longing, thus forever sighing, 
For the far-off, unattained and dim, 

While the beautiful, all around thee lying 
Offers up its low, perpetual hymn. 

— Harriet Winslow. 

i. Contentment is not a dead indifference, a stupid 
slumber, or forced submission to the inevitable. It is 
an active thing. It is willing, cheerful, grateful satis- 
faction with present circumstances, with life as it is, 
with the existing state of things, believing that it is or- 
dered or permitted in infinite wisdom and love, and is the 
best, all things considered, and therefore does not call 
for murmuring or peevish complaint. 

2. The foundation of content must be laid in a 
man's own mind, and he who has so little knowledge 
of human nature as to seek happiness by changing any- 
thing but his own disposition will waste his life in 
fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he pro- 
poses to remove. 

3. He that is content with comfort rather than 
luxury, who prefers great principles to a great bank ac- 
count, who considers enough better than a feast, who 
prefers a competence to a colossal fortune, is he who is 
not only among the happiest people, but among those 
who have been the real benefactors of the race. 

4. If you are cheerful and contented, all nature 
smiles with you ; the air seems more balmy, the sky more 
clear, the ground has a brighter green, the trees have a 
richer foliage, the flowers a more fragrant smell, the 
birds sing more sweetly, and the sun, moon and stars 
all appear more beautiful. 

5. Be content in your situation. Nothing will 
sooner render you disagreeable, or sooner destroy your 
own peace, than a discontented spirit. 

6. A man may aspire and yet be quite content until 
it is time to rise. 

7. He is richest who is content with the least, for 
content is the wealth of nature. 



129 

8. The state of content in which men live depends 
but little on their intellectuality. 

9. It is not the contentment of stupid indifference 
and soulless despair that men covet, but that of indus- 
trious fidelity and faithful activity. Poverty is not nec- 
essarily a virtue ; wealth is not necessarily a crime. 

10. As the feeling of happiness and content in- 
creases day by day, you become a better man. 

11. To be content with what you possess is the 
greatest and most secure of riches. 

12. Be content but not satisfied, is a wise injunc- 
tion. Follow always your ideal — the highest and truest 
thought of yourself, and you will never go far astray. 

13. It is a great mistake to suppose that great pos- 
sessions are necessary to make a man content. 

14. Contentment is largely independent of external 
circumstances or possessions, and is perhaps found in 
the lowly places more frequently than in the high places 
of the earth. 

15. Anything short of a cheerful acquiescence in 
the existing state of things cannot be accounted con- 
tentment. 

16. Industry is the mother of content. 

17. If a man, no matter what his position, is not 
situated so that he can obtain the first-fruits of his labor, 
he has a perfect right to be discontented. 

18. Always be content with that which happens ; 
for what God chooses is better than what you choose. 

19. While contentment is not a lazy indifference, 
it is equally removed from stoicism. 

20. You must believe that the universe is wisely 
ordered, and that every man must conform to the order 
which he cannot change ; that whatever God has done 
is good ; that all mankind are your brothers ; and that 
you must love and cherish them, and try to make them 
better, even those who would do you harm. 

21. Endeavor to be content in that state of life 
which it has pleased God to call you. 



130 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 
Book VIM. Part 4. Action. 

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 

— Philip James Bailey. 

1. You need not try all kinds of actions to find out 
which are hurtful and which are helpful to yourself 
and others, but you should be teachable and willing to 
learn what things have already been found good to do, 
and what have been found to be bad. 

2. The actions of your passing life are facts visi- 
ble, plain, undeniable. You engrave them on the minds 
of all observers. 

3. Your acts are the only things that are in your 
power. They not only form the sum of your habits, but 
of your character. 

4. Real worth requires no interpreter; its every- 
day deeds form its blazonry. 

5. Men are judged, not by their intentions, but by 
the result of their actions. 

6. The prominent importance of right action and 
constant need of some general standard to appeal to, 
strongly impresses the human mind in its very earliest 
stage of development. 

7. Action is the main line of growth. Conditions 
press on all life, and life is modified through its own 
action under given conditions, and the relative wisdom 
and success of different acts depend on the brain power 
of the organism. 

8. Action has its finest and most enduring fruit in 
character. 

9. There is a uniformity of connection between 
character and actions — a man's character is inferred from 
his past actions. 

10. One wrong deed will overshadow all the soft 
pretensions of a lifetime. 

11. An impulse will sometimes show more of your 
real character than what you do after deliberation. 



I3i 

12. Your good lies in the active not in the passive 
nature ; in the will, not in the flesh, nor in anything 
else which the will is unable to control. 

13. The principle of action is too powerful for any 
circumstance to resist. It clears the way, and elevates 
itself above every object, above fortune and misfortune, 
good and evil. 

14. The gamut of the emotions is run by subtle 
signs — the glance of an eye, the turn of a head, the curl 
of a lip. This language expresses more in a gesture than 
many words can express. It speaks the truth where the 
tongue might utter falsehood. It is the play of expres- 
sion that no mask can wholly cover. 

15. It is not because men's desires are strong that 
they act ill ; it is because their consciences are weak. 

16. The individual is most modified by what he 
does, not by what is done to him. 

17. It is not enough to speak the truth ; your whole 
behavior should be sincere, upright, fair, and without 
artifice. 

18. Better far the silent tongue but the eloquent 
deed. 

19. It is not enough to tell others what they are 
to do, but to exhibit the actual example of doing. 

20. Deeds show what you are, words only what 
you should be. 

21. Your wisdom appears in your own actions; for 
every man is the son of his own work. 

22. No action can take place in accordance with the 
character without modifying the character itself. 

23. You must yourself be and do, and not rest sat- 
isfied merely with reading and meditating over what 
other men have been and done. 

24. Men of public spirit differ rather in their cir- 
cumstances than their work ; and the man who does all 
he can, in a low station, is more a hero than he who 
omits any worthy action he is able to accomplish in a 
great one. 

25. Always do that which you believe to be right. 



132 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIII. Part 5. Conscience. 

Yet still there whispers the small voice within, 
Ueard through gain's silence, and o'er glory's din: 
Whatever creed be taught or land be trod, 
Man's conscience is the oracle of God. — Byron. 

i. Conscience is the sense through which God can 
and does directly speak to the soul of man, and through 
which His will can be impressed on the heart. It is en- 
dowed with the power of distinguishing broadly be- 
tween right and wrong; but artificially it may be per- 
verted to any extent. 

2. Conscience is the moral governor of the heart — 
the governor of right action, of right thought, of right 
faith, of right life — and only through its dominating in- 
fluence can the noble and upright character be fully de- 
veloped and made to shine on others. 

3. Conscience is not merely a sense of good and 
evil, but it is a strong instinct to accept the good and re- 
fuse the evil. 

4. The end of right moral culture is to habituate 
yourself to decide against the passions, desires and emo- 
tions, whenever they oppose the conscience. 

5. The voice of conscience speaks in duty done ; 
and without its regulating and controlling influence, the 
brightest and greatest intellect may be merely as a light 
that leads astray. 

6. The motives of conscience, as connected with 
repentance and the feelings of duty, are the most im- 
portant differences which separate man from the animal. 

7. The man of character is conscientious. He puts 
his conscience into his work, into his words, into his ev- 
ery action. 

8. A good conscience is able to bear very much 
and is very cheerful in adversity. An evil conscience is 
always fearful and unquiet. 

9. All virtues come from the innate monitor con- 
science. From this first principle all rules of behavior 
are drawn. 



133 

io. Conscience is always your friend. It may up- 
braid and denounce, it may torture with pangs of regret, 
and torment with remorse, but everywhere and always, 
conscience is your friend. It is the foe to sin. 

ii. Conscience is the helper by which you get the 
mastery over your own failings. 

12. That which you need most to fear, as you set 
your hand to sin, is your conscience, the witness who 
sits as a spy in your own soul, and who will some day 
accuse you to yourself, and do it with such power that 
you will accuse yourself to others. 

13. Conscience must be your chief guide. That be- 
ing satisfied you can defy the world. 

14. Conscience is the voice of man ingrained into 
your heart, commanding you to work for man and not 
alone for self. 

15. Conscience — the sense of right and wrong — 
springs out of the habit of judging things from the point 
of view of all and not of one. 

16. The function of conscience is the preservation 
of society in the struggle for existence. 

17. Conscience is permanent and universal. It is 
the very essence of individual character. It gives you 
self-control— the power of resisting temptations and de- 
fying them. 

18. Every one must conquer himself, and you may 
do so, if you take conscience for your guide and general. 

19. Follow the dictates of your conscience, and 
walk, though alone, in the paths of duty. 

20. In some cases fidelity to the dictates of con- 
science awakens contempt on the part of others ; but it 
is better to suffer, rather than sacrifice your sense of 
honor. 

21. A just man is one in whom conscience is 
sovereign. Justice suffers when conscience is silenced. 
Frauds, injustice, malfeasance in office, and betrayal of 
trust, stalk abroad when conscience is fettered. 

22. Conscience, unless forcibly stopped, always 
magisterially asserts itself. 



134 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 
Book VIII. Part 6. Patriotism. 

Tour own proud land's heroic soil 

Shall be your fittest grave, 
She claims from war its richest spoil, — 

The ashes of her brave. — O'Hara. 

i. Patriotism is the noblest sentiment that enters 
the human heart. 

2. Your country is not a certain area of land, of 
mountain, rivers and woods, but it is principle ; and pat- 
riotism is loyalty to that principle. 

3. People who love their country are jealous of its 
honor, of its liberty and its welfare. 

4. Three things to fight for: Honor, Country, and 
Home. 

5. You should perfect yourself in military train- 
ing and be ever ready to answer your country's call. 

6. One of the highest duties of every citizen is to 
defend his own liberty, and his country's flag and honor. 

7. True patriotism is based on honesty, truthful- 
ness, generosity, self-sacrifice, and genuine love of free- 
dom. 

8. There are times when patriotism rises to the 
height of sublimity, and the man who dares and suf- 
fers is earth's grandest hero. 

9. He is a patriot of a noble type who adds to the 
citizenship of his state the qualities of true manhood. 

10. The simplest patriotism is the hardest to prac- 
tice. 

11. A knowledge of universal history is an admir- 
able check on spurious patriotism. It is not by under- 
rating others, but by duly estimating and appreciating 
their achievements, that you will find yourself challeng- 
ed to bring forth what is best in yourself. 

12. Patriotism is a very different thing from par- 
tisanship. 

13. Patriotism may be defined as doing the right 
thing in public affairs for right's sake, at the right time. 



135 

14. A traitor is a man who, in peace or in war, 
fails to support the best interests of his country. 

15. Consecrate your life to the perpetuation of your 
country, and resolve that when the reins of government 
shall fall to you, as in the course of a few short years 
they must, that you will, by earnest application today, 
endeavor to fit and prepare yourself for the duties of 
the morrow. 

16. Take part in all patriotic celebrations and nev- 
er lose an opportunity to promote the public welfare. 

17. Without local attachment there can be no 
genuine patriotism. 

18. The influences which cultivate a true love of 
country and inspire the spirit of bravery, are of a purely 
moral character, and can be traced back, in most cases, 
to home attachments and influences. 

19. The first impulse of patriotism and morality 
is germinated, nourished, and largely if not entirely de- 
veloped in the family circle. 

20. Just in proportion as home, the mother of pat- 
riotism, is made home-like and happy, will its attach- 
ments grow and become, not only the strongest barriers 
to the encroachments of vice, but a sentiment, when 
fully expanded, that will be one of the strongest ties to 
fatherland. 

21. It is a splendid and healthily stimulative thing 
to stir the sensations of patriotism, of generosity, of 
sacrifice, of noble love. 

22. Government, in the long run, is usually no bet- 
ter than the people governed. 

23. The foundation of political happiness is confi- 
dence in the integrity of man. 

24. Moral responsibilities and obligations attach 
to great fortunes, which owe the country much for their 
protection. 

25. Military bravery is one of the most mysterious 
of human qualities. 

26. It is the fashion of all nations to idealize their 
soldiers into men who become heroic through love of 
country and faith in the justice of their cause. 



136 



CHARACTER: A MORAL, TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIM. Part 7. Gratitude. 

The heart grows richer that its lot is poor, — 
God blesses want with larger sympathies, — 
Love enters gladliest at the humble door, 
And makes the cot a palace with his eyes. 

— James Russell Lowell. 

i. There is not a more pleasing exercise of the 
mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an 
inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded 
by the performance. 

2. Gratitude is not, like the practice of many vir- 
tues, difficult and painful, but attended with so much 
pleasure, that were there no positive command which 
enjoined it, nor any recompense laid up for it hereafter, 
a generous mind would indulge in it for the natural grat- 
ification that accompanies it. 

3. To be thankful is not only pleasant to the one 
who has bestowed the gift; it is a sweet satisfaction to 
the one who is grateful. This disposition is among 
those virtues the exercise of which has been ordained 
for your inward satisfaction and peace. 

4. The sense of gratitude, the feeling that it should 
be cherished and expressed, is common to all persons ; 
it is born with you and it may truly be said is one of 
the finest elements of character. 

5. Gratitude is usually displayed by a return of 
the kindness received. But the kindness you receive 
from your parents is such that you can never repay it. 
It is of the nature of a debt which you can never hope 
fully to cancel. 

6. Do not overlook any expression of affection 
from your friends. Do not shut your eyes to the kindly 
actions of others, but be prompt to acknowledge all 
friendly sentiments that are expressed for you. 

7. No right-minded man can be satisfied with be- 
ing fed, clad, and maintained by the labors of others, 
without making some suitable return to the society that 
upholds him. 



137 

8. Men do not exact or expect much recognition 
by way of gratitude ; they are accustomed to bestow 
rather than receive, yet a certain amount of praise and 
thanks is always welcome to the diligent and faithful. 

9. The benefactor should immediately forget what 
he has given ; the beneficiary should always remember 
what he has received. Gratitude is based on the sense 
of moral fellowship with others. The gifts received and 
returned are mere tokens of this noble relationship. 

10. Let no one be deterred from the exercise of 
charity, because in his progress through life he has en- 
countered many an instance of black ingratitude. Let 
not the innocent suffer for the guilty. 

11. The ungrateful man is a disgrace to humanity. 
He is entitled to neither sympathy nor respect. He not 
only injures himself, but he excites distrust as to man- 
kind at large, and checks the hand of generosity when 
about to act in the most liberal spirit. 

12. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for 
he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. 

13. Ungratefulness is the very poison of manhood. 

14. Ingratitude is a sign of weakness. A strong 
character is never ungrateful. 

15. Ingratitude is a crime so shameful that the 
man has not yet been found who would acknowledge 
himself guilty of it. 

16. It is true that kind actions are not always re- 
ceived with gratitude, but this ought never to turn aside 
the sympathetic helper. This is one of the difficulties 
to be overcome in your conflict with life. 

17. A crust of bread from one heart brings a song, 
from another a thousand acres of ripening grain can 
produce no thanksgiving. There is no measure for 
gratitude. 

18. Good and friendly conduct may meet with an 
unworthy and ungrateful return ; but the absence of 
gratitude on the part of the receiver cannot destroy the 
self-approbation which recompenses the giver. 



138 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIII. Part 8. Election. 

Our lives are songs: 

God writes the words, 
And we set them to music at leisure; 

And the song is sad, or the song is glad, 
As we choose to fashion the measure. — Gibbons. 

i. You can make of life what you will. You can 
give as much value to it, for yourself and others, as you 
have power given you. When circumstances are not 
against you, you have entire control over your moral 
and spiritual nature. 

2. To nearly all is given the prerogative of deter- 
mining their relative position in the scale of existence. 
They may decide if they will control circumstances, or 
permit circumstances to control them. Upon the result 
of this choice hinges their future good. 

3. Although the moral character depends in a great 
degree on temperament and on physical health, as well 
as domestic and early training and the example of com- 
panions, it is also in the power of each individual to 
regulate, to restrain, and to discipline it by watchful and 
persevering self-control. 

4. The best way to direct education of character, 
with a view to growth, is to put yourself under the pow- 
er of good influences, ideals and habits ; character can- 
not actually be directly educated, but you can direct the 
forces that act on it. 

5. Character grows like the body, mainly by food 
and exercise. Its food is the ideas presented to the 
mind, its exercise lies in directing life through the var- 
ious circumstances around. Development is not a power 
or force in the body like growth, but purely the result 
of use and exercise. 

6. Your choice is always determined by a conflict 
in which you always follow the strongest motive. 

7. It lies with you whether you shall have the re- 
spect and the confidence of the community in which you 
live. If you fail to inspire it, or if, having acquired it 



139 

forfeit it, in that lies your punishment, and for it you 
alone are responsible. 

8. Your character is made up of your choices and 
refusals. 

9. The will is free to choose between the right 
course and the wrong one, but the choice is nothing un- 
less followed by immediate and decisive action. 

10. As a general statement it is true that a young 
man's career is absolutely in his own keeping, and he is 
thus the master of his own destiny. 

11. Your life is essentially what you make it. 

12. It is in your own power to be worthy or worth- 
less. 

13. You are not the creature, so much as you are 
the creator, of circumstances; by the exercise of your 
free-will you can direct your actions so that they shall 
be productive of good rather than ill. 

14. Though your character is formed by circum- 
stances, your own desires can do much to shape those 
circumstances ; and what is really inspiring and ennobl- 
ing in the doctrine of free will, is the conviction that 
you have real power over the formation of your own 
character; you will, by influencing some of your cir- 
cumstances, be able to modify your future habits or ca- 
pacity of willing. 

15. You may make the best of life or you may 
make the worst of it ; it depends very much on yourself 
whether you extract joy or misery from it. 

16. You may make yourself what you will within 
the limitations nature has set about you. 

17. You have the choice of following good or fol- 
lowing evil. It depends on yourself — on your awakened 
conscience and enlightened will. 

18. Every man is the architect of his own fortune. 

19. A good or bad fortune rests with each individ- 
ual. 

20. A burden which you choose is not felt. 

21. Into your life will come a time when, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, you will decide whether you 
will drift through it, or steer through it with a definite 
aim in view. 



140 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIM. Part 9. Goodness. 

How'er it be, it seems to me, 

'Tis only noble to be good. 
Kind hearts are more than coronets, 

And simple faith than Norman blood. 

— Tennyson. 

1. True manliness can only exist when the good 
is sought for its own sake, either as a recognized law 
of pure duty or from the feeling of the constraining 
bonds of virtue. This alone reacts on the human char- 
acter. 

2. Rightness of heart and not of mere conduct, is 
the essential characteristic of goodness. 

3. You are responsible for all the good within the 
scope of your abilities. 

4. Good actions give strength and inspire good 
actions in others. They prove treasures guarded for 
the doer's need. 

5. Great is the power of goodness to charm and 
command. The man inspired by it is the king of men, 
drawing all hearts after him. 

6. The luxury of doing good surpasses every other 
personal enjoyment. 

7. He who stands forth clothed with the real 
weight of goodness can neither be feeble in life, nor 
forgotten in death. 

8. There is a distinctive difference between good 
and evil and there is no excuse for not being able to 
distinguish it. 

9. All good habits should be assiduously cultivated 
while young and they will never be forgotten. 

10. You will find good when you look for it with 
a good heart. 

11. Goodness is regenerating, purifying. It is God- 
liness, divinity in man. 

12. Goodness is an impulse, inherent in man as 
well as badness. One is quite as genuine as the other. 

13. It is not enough to have good qualities; see 
that they are not neutralized by some prominent bad 
one. 



141 

14- No one is born without the capacity for good. 

15. The heart should be cultivated in the right 
manner until the acts of the individual spontaneously 
flow in the right direction. 

16. Every human being has a rudimentary moral 
sense, and the adjustment of his conduct to the moral 
relations which he naturally feels should exist between 
himself and his environment, forms his character. 

17. Only those without virtue themselves disbe- 
lieve in its existence in others. 

18. Evil habits are best overcome, not by mere 
resistance, but by the vigorous formation of the opposite 
virtuous habit. 

19. Good things are more powerful than bad. 

20. Greatness is seldom hereditary, but goodness 
lasts through the ages. 

21. There is a saintly light around goodness that 
neither intellect, nor natural tenderness, nor the most 
enlightened sentiments, can create. 

22. A good deed is never lost; he who sows cour- 
tesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gath- 
ers love. 

23. A good man out of the good treasure of his 
heart brings forth good things ; and an evil man out of 
the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. 

24. Without the apparently minor gift of good tem- 
per, the most splendid endowments may be comparative- 
ly valueless to their possessor. 

25. Good nature is the very air of a good mind; 
the sign of a large and generous soul, and the peculiar 
soil in which virtue prospers. 

26. A display of the easiest virtues will generally 
bring you more popularity than the exhibition of the 
greatest talents without them. 

27. You shall not commit adultery; you shall not 
kill ; you shall not steal ; you shall not bear false wit- 
ness ; you shall not covet ; and if there be any other 
commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this say- 
ing, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

28. Be good, do good, and you will be happy. 



142 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 
Book VIII. Part 10. Patience. 

Patience is the exercise 
Of saints, the trial of their fortitude; 
Making them each his own deliverer, 
And victor over all 
That tyranny or fortune can inflict. — Milton. 

1. Patience adorns the woman and improves the 
man ; is loved in a child ; praised in a young man ; ad- 
mired in an old man; it is beautiful in either sex and 
every age. 

2. Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the spir- 
it, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, 
subdues pride; it bridles the tongue, restrains the hand, 
tramples upon temptations, endures persecutions. 

3. Patience is the courage of virtue, enabling you 
to lessen pain of mind and body; it does not so much 
add to the number of your joys as it tends to diminish 
the number of your sufferings. 

4. Patience produces loyalty in the state, harmony 
in families and societies ; it comforts the poor and mod- 
erates the rich ; it makes you humble in prosperity, 
cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calumny and re- 
proach ; it teaches you to forgive those who have in- 
jured you, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of 
those whom you have injured. 

5. Patience is a virtue kindred to attention; and 
without it, the mind cannot be said to be disciplined. 
Patient labor and investigation are not only essential to 
success in study, but are an unfailing guarantee of suc- 
cess in most other things. 

6. The most beneficent operations of nature are 
the result of patience. 

7. Patience always belongs to great characters. 

8. The humble faculty of patience, when rightly 
developed, may lead to more extraordinary developments 
of idea than even genius itself. 

9 Patience will help you to see the bright side of 
everything that happens. 



143 

io. To know how to wait is a great secret of suc- 
cess. 

ii. Progress of the best kind is comparatively 
slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once ; and 
you must be satisfied to advance in life as you walk, 
step by step. 

12. Patience is the guardian of faith, the preserver 
of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher of humility. 

13. Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet. 

14. The man who can calmly wait is master of the 
situation. 

15. Ages do not try the placid and vast patience 
of the man who is to be a master. 

16. Learn to wait as well as labor. The best har- 
vests are the longest in ripening. It is not pleasant to 
work in the earth plucking the ugly tares and weeds, but 
it is as necessary as sowing the seed. 

17. Be patient with your pains and cares. These 
things are killed by enduring them, and made strong to 
bite and sting by feeding them with your frets and 
worry. 

18. Be patient with your beloved. Love is the 
best thing on earth, but it is to be handled tenderly, and 
impatience is a nurse that kills it. 

19. Be patient — it is the only remedy against all 
the ills of life. 

20. He that can have patience can have what he 
will. 

21. There is a virtue in passive endurance which is 
often greater than the glory of success. It bears, it suf- 
fers, it endures, and still it hopes. 

22. By bravely enduring, an evil which cannot be 
overcome, is avoided. 

23. Endurance is a much better test of character 
than any one act of heroism, however noble. 

24. Understanding something of God's unconquer- 
able patience, you shall have patience with man that 
nothing can overcome. 

25. Anybody can get into a rage ; it requires more 
effort and shows a higher type of manhood and woman- 
hood to be patient. 



144 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIM. Part 11. Philosophy. 

Divine Philosophy! by whose pure light 
We first distinguish, then pursue the right; 
Thy power the breast from every error frees, 
And weeds out all its vices by degrees. 

— Gifford's Juvenal. 

i. You need to live long before you can do wisely 
in contradicting or correcting any of the simple, prac- 
tical rules for common conduct which men ages ago 
found out, and which millions of human beings have 
learned are reasonable by trying to live according to 
them. 

2. The philosophy of life is, first to look after 
yourself. 

3. Man is better today than he ever was, and it 
is your duty not only to know a good thing when you see 
it, but to realize its excellence and to apply it to your 
daily thinking. 

4. A good humored acquiescence, and the disposi- 
tion to make the best out of things that are unpleasant, is 
true philosophy. 

5. The true philosophy of life lies in the attainment 
of the largest amount of happiness with the smallest 
expenditure of force. 

6. Philosophy is the cultivation of the mental fac- 
ulties ; it roots out vices and prepares the mind to re- 
ceive proper seed. 

7. Truth in personality is life and power. Always 
the printed philosophy is less than the speaking philos- 
opher. 

8. If there is anything calculated to produce con- 
tent and happiness it is philosophy. 

9. The beginning of philosophy is the conscious- 
ness of your own feebleness and your incapacity in re- 
spect to many things. 

10. Philosophy finds its highest province in the 
study of your own natures. 

11. The popularizer succeeds the philosopher, and 



H5 

the knowledge that would have been wasted on a few 
"becomes available for all. 

12. There is not one primary desire or appetite in 
the human system that was put there to be taken out 
again. 

13. Everything that is in man was put in him 
because it was necessary to the symmetry of the whole. 

14. You have a right to every one of your appe- 
tites and passions ; and that, not for suppression, but for 
use, so that you use them in subordination to the higher 
moral sentiments and affections. 

15. The measure of your duty is the greatness of 
your advantages, and the greatness of your advantages 
is the standard to which you will be subjected in the 
judgment of God and the judgment of history. 

16. All the departments of your nature were made 
to grow, the one with the other, and not one at a time, 
and the development of the one should not demand the 
sacrifice of the other. 

17. That the wicked have plenty to eat is no indi- 
cation of the approval of heaven. 

18. A poor man, though living in the crowded 
mart, no one will notice ; a rich man, though dwelling 
amid the remote hills, everybody will find him out. 

19. The best way for a man to train a child in 
the way he should go, is to travel that way sometimes 
himself. 

20. The earlier in life the main principles of char- 
acter are developed and fixed, the more are they likely 
to resist the stress and strain of later years. The last 
principle implanted is the easiest to lose, and should be 
guarded against undue temptation. 

21. Nothing learnt or taught forms a part of the 
character until it sinks from the conscious into the 
unconscious. 

2.2,. There is nothing more visible than what is 
secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute; 
therefore, the superior man is watchful over himself 
when he is alone. 

23. You have no right to believe a thing because 
everybody says so. 



146 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book VIM. Part 12. Perfection. 

All, that life can rate, 
Worth name of life, in thee hath estimate; 
Youth, beauty, wisdom, courage, virtue, all 
That happiness and prime can happy call. 

— Shakespeare. 

i. To arrive at perfection, you must show cheerful 
submission to superiors, self-respect and independence 
of character, kindness and protection to the weak, read- 
iness to forgive offense, a desire to conciliate the differ- 
ences of others, and, above all, fearless devotion to duty, 
and unflinching truthfulness. 

2. A perfect balance between the animal and 
mental temperament would result in a perfect human 
being. 

3. Moral law demands perfection. 

4. To love truth for truth's sake is the principal 
part of human perfection, and the seed-plot of all other 
virtues. 

5. Aim at perfection in everything, though in most 
things it is unattainable ; however, they who aim at it, 
and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those 
whose laziness and despondency make them give it up 
as unattainable. 

6. You should resolve upon perfection in your own 
line, so that, if you be a mechanic, you be the best pos- 
sible mechanic ; or if a statesman, that you will be the 
best possible statesman. It is by such means that true 
success is achieved. 

7. The masterpiece, a perfect man, is the result of 
such an extreme delicacy, that the most unobserved flaw 
in the boy will neutralize the most aspiring genius, and 
spoil the work. 

8. Love works no ill to his neighbor, therefore love 
is perfection. 

9. The character is best and most perfect when a 
good intelligence is joined to a warm heart, and the 
stream of emotion is controlled by wisdom. 

10. A gentleman is the nearest approach to a per- 
fect man. 



147 

11. The model in the mind must be perfect, if you 
would obtain perfection of the body. 

12. There grows within each heart, as in a shrine, 
the giant image of prefection. 

13. Be firmly convinced that you were made in the 
image of perfection, designed for success and happiness,, 
and that you have the power to strangle the evils which 
would thwart you. 

14. Proper praise promotes perfection. 

15. Nothing but perfection must content you. 

16. Perfection in the arts depends upon trifles, and 
the perfect in art suggests the perfect in conduct. 

17. Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no 
trifle. 

18. It is working and waiting that gives perfec- 
tion. 

19. The demand for excellence is always greater 
than the supply. 

20. The love of excellence is inseparable from a 
spirit of uncompromising detestation for all that is base 
and crimnial. 

21. The aim of every man should be to secure the 
highest and most harmonious development of his pow- 
ers to a complete and consistent whole. 

22. There are degrees of virtue. All graces are 
not of equal value. Without the observance of the place 
and proportion of each, a distorted and ill-formed char- 
acter must result. Symmetry of character requires dis- 
crimination. 

23. Nothing will so save you fiom self-consump- 
tion as a complete surrender to excellence. It is a burn- 
ing zeal to get higher and higher in the scale of char- 
acter, an ever increasing thirst and enthusiasm fu/ the 
best — that will take nothing less — that lifts life on a 
plane worth living. 

24. By habit there conies a time when you no 
longer possess a certain virtue, but it possesses you. 
When this is so, it is your assured property; and you 
can pass on to attain higher forms of virtue, and it is 
thus you grow into the perfectly tempered man who is 
the product of organized habit. 



148 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 1. Weakness. 

If weakness may excuse, 
What murderer, what traitor, parricide, 
Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it? 
All wickedness is weakness; that plea, therefore, 
With God or man will gain thee no remission. 

—Milton. 

1. The strength of a chain lies in its weakest, not 
in its strongest link. You are apt to be proud of your 
strong links, and are constantly trying to make them 
stronger ; but you are sensitive about the weak ones ; you 
do not like to dwell upon your deficiencies. Consequent- 
ly the weak links in your character grow weaker and 
weaker, until they finally break. 

2. Weakness is the damnation of manhood. It 
fills asylums, jails, and penitentiaries. It begets pauper- 
ism, crime and sin. If you expect to amount to anything 
you must be strong. 

3. The place where character usually breaks down 
is not in the large but in the small things of life. The 
large dishonesty that startles the world is but the climax 
that discloses the career of petty dishonesties behind. 

4. The weak and undisciplined man is at the mercy 
of every temptation ; he cannot say no, but falls before 
it. And if his companionship is bad, he will be all the 
easier led away by bad example into wrong-doing. 

5. No apology can cover up weakness, whether it 
be a lack of energy, of will power, of physical stamina, 
or loss of brain force. 

6. In the assurance of strength there is strength, 
and they are the weakest, however strong, who have no 
faith in themselves or their powers. 

7. A person who is naturally weak or timid should 
bend all his energies to acquiring self-confidence, firm- 
ness, and decision. He should never for a moment give 
way to the thought that he would not be equal to any 
emergency. He should not refer to or lean on others, 
but should do his thinking independently. 

8. Do not lose sight of the weaker parts of mind 



149 

and character, to strengthen which is often even more 
desirable than to develop abnormally a part which is 
naturally strong. 

9. If a boy is not trained to endure and bear 
trouble he will grow up like a girl ; and a boy that is 
like a girl has all a girl's weaknesses without any of her 
regal qualities. 

10. Vice recruits her victims as much by want of 
firmness, and weakness, as by a taste for wrong. That 
comes with indulgence. 

11. Weakness excites sympathy and ridicule; 
strength admiration and envy. 

12. The average transgressor of the laws of perfect 
integrity are the unconscious dupes of their own weak 
wills, silly caprices, or unhealthy ambitions. 

13. One of the most contemptible forms of weak- 
ness is to acquiesce in the prejudices of others. 

14. There are none so weak that you may 
venture to injure them with impunity; there are none so 
low that they may not, at some time, be able to repay an 
obligation. 

15. No amount of cultivation will make some minds 
equal to those of others who have had but little training. 
But, whether great or small, everyone has some weak 
point : let him study to overcome that. 

16. Oftentimes some little weakness, as a lack of 
courtesy, want of promptness or decision, a habit of 
doing things in a slovenly way, a want of precision, a 
bad temper, may prevent you from securing employ- 
ment, or may keep you from promotion. 

17. The craving for pleasure, at once so natural 
and so dangerous, is an opening to weakness. 

18. Forwardness and backwardness are alike 
defects of character to be guarded against. 

19. The desire to possess without being burdened 
with the trouble of acquiring, is a great sign of weak- 
ness and laziness. 

20. The will of youth is, as a rule, weak and 
irresolute, and ready to yield to a stronger, it may be for 
evil. 



150 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 2. Ignorance. 

We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow; 
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so. — Pope. 

i. Ignorance is not simply the negation of knowl- 
edge, it is the misdirection of the mind. 

2. Intellectual laziness is the prolific source of 
ignorance. 

3. An ignorant life must always be a comparatively 
dull one. Man needs knowledge, not merely as a means 
of livelihood, but as a means of life. 

4. The most ignorant man is sometimes the most 
wise in his own conceit ; and the most vacillating often 
regards himself as firm and persistent as a rock, and 
possibly may be so at times when specially aroused. 

5. There is no calamity like ignorance. 

6. So long as you remain in ignorance, so long will 
you fail to command the respect of your fellow men. 

7. Ignorance is no excuse before the courts for a 
violation of law, neither is it an excuse for the infrac- 
tion upon the unwritten statutes of social customs. 

8. One of the penalties of ignorance is that the 
unlearned man must forego the keen delight of impart- 
ing knowledge. 

9. Small is your knowledge in comparison with 
your ignorance. 

10. Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night 
without moon or star. 

11. An ignorant person is despised, while knowl- 
edge wins you the esteem of your fellow men. 

12. Absolute losses in business are generally the 
result of ignorance. 

13. Want is little to be dreaded, when a man has 
but a short time to be miserable. Of all poverty, that 
of the mind is the most deplorable. 

14. The gifts of the mind are able to cover the 
defects of the body ; but the perfections of the body can 
not hide the imperfections of the mind. 

15. To know many things indifferently is, so far as 



i5i 

gaining a livelihood is concerned, tantamount to know- 
ing nothing. 

16. Whatever study tends neither directly nor 
indirectly to make you better men and citizens, is at 
best but a specious and ingenious sort of idleness, and 
the knowledge you acquire by it only a creditable kind of 
ignorance. 

17. All that the wise men of the past and present 
have learned will have been sought for and fought for 
in vain, if it be not well taught to those who are to do 
the thinking and working for the world after the men 
and women of today are laid away to rest. 

18. Though wise men may learn of fools by avoid- 
ing their errors, fools rarely profit by the example which 
wise men set them. 

19. Fools make feasts and wise men eat them. 

20. Experience keeps a dear school but fools will 
learn in no other. 

21. The practical dunce outstrips the theorizing 
genius. 

22. No one is a fool always, everyone sometimes. 

23. It has often proved to be the case that those 
who gave little promise in their early days happily dis- 
appointed their friends afterwards, and showed that 
they were capable of good things. It was only needful 
to wake up their slumbering powers and rightly direct 
them. 

24. The majority of men are lost, not because they 
are criminals, but fools ; not because they sought wick- 
edness, but drifted into it ; not because they purposed 
folly, but simply because they never had a wise and 
enduring purpose. 

25. Many remain in negligence and criminality 
from their circumstances in social life, position, habit, 
or education; but still so well organized and attempered 
as only to wait the influence of powerful appeal, clear 
knowlege, and realization, to turn them from wicked- 
ness to virtue. 

26. Though ignorance can be certainly, it cannot 
be easily cured. 



152 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 3. Poverty. 

Want is a bitter and a hateful good, 
Because its virtues are not understood; 
Yet many things, impossible to thought, 
Have been by need to full perfection brought. 

— Dryden. 

i. Until the flame of hope is extinguished; while 
the flame of ambition continues to burn ; as long as 
aspiration finds a home in the soul, the poor will be 
miserable and preventable poverty a disgrace. 

2. No man can do his best work who feels want 
tugging at his heels, who is hampered and tied down 
and forever at the mercy of circumstances, or those upon 
whom he depends for employment. 

3. The great trouble with the miserably poor is 
that their ideals are low, they lack education, and above 
all cleanliness, and have no adequate view of the dignity 
of life. 

4. The poorest man who walks can stand in the 
presence of the man of millions with no consciousness 
of inferiority, but when poverty is the result of crime, 
it becomes at once sinful and disgraceful. 

5. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness. 
It certainly destroys liberty, and makes some virtues 
impracticable, and others extremely difficult, for with- 
out money none can be rich, and with it few can be 
poor. 

6. The bitterest sorrow of poverty is that one so 
situated may not experience that highest type of joy 
which comes from enlarging the joy and gladness of 
your fellows. 

7. Do not start out with the idea that poor or 
obscure men and women are necessarily failures. 

8. To have nothing is not poverty. Whoever 
uplifts civilization is rich, though he die penniless. 

9. Even the foolish may know how to use riches ; 
it is the wise who know how to use poverty. 

10. Poverty has rocked the cradle of the giants 
who have wrung civilization from barbarism, and led 
the world up from savagery. 



153 

n. A condition of comparative poverty is compat- 
ible with character in its highest form. A man may 
possess only his industry, his frugality, his integrity, 
and yet stand high in the rank of true manhood. 

12. There is a greater misfortune than being born 
poor. It is in being heir to great wealth and not know- 
ing how to use it wisely. 

13. For the average man or woman to live in con- 
tinual poverty is a disgrace. 

14. The poor are ever at the mercy of circumstan- 
ces. They cannot be independent. 

15. Poverty takes away so many means of doing 
good, and produces so much inability to resist evil, both 
natural and moral, that it is by all virtuous means to be 
avoided. 

16. Poverty itself may be lifted and lightened up 
by self-respect ; and it is truly a noble sight to see a 
poor man hold himself upright amid his temptations, 
and refuse to demean himself by low actions. 

17. Poverty in itself is not a crime. No disgrace 
belongs to the man who, by reverses in business, is 
led down from affluence to destitution. 

18. Poverty is a condition which no man should 
accept, unless it be forced upon him as an inexorable 
necessity or as the alternative of dishonor. 

19. The man who has no money is poor, but one 
who has nothing but money is poorer than he. 

20. It takes courage to remain in honest poverty 
when others grow rich by fraud. 

21. A thought to brighten poverty is that, how- 
ever poor and obscure you may be, you can have as 
much fragrance in your life as the greatest and best. 

22. It is not the greatest poverty to lack money, 
but rather to believe yourself poor, wretched and unfor- 
tunate. To be without some of those things which you 
strongly desire should not make you miserable. 

23. Many of the greatest benefactors of the world 
have been those who had no money. 

24. It is one of the mysteries of life that genius is 
nourished by poverty. 



154 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 4. Worry. 

Fate steals along with silent tread, 
Found oftenest in what least we dread; 
Frowns in the storm with angry brow, 
But in the sunshine strikes the blow. — Cowper. 

i. The cankering, corroding, worrying habit of 
brooding over troubles real or imaginary, cheats a large 
part of the human race out of almost everything that 
is worth living for. 

2. Worrying is an essentially feminine failing. 

3. The chief source of worry is not real but imag- 
inary evil. 

4. As a rule the most successful men and women 
are free from worry. They learn to convert all the force 
and energy they can generate into useful work instead 
of dissipating a large portion of it in anxiously preparing 
to meet troubles that never come. 

5. Active minds are seldom troubled with gloomy 
forebodings. They come up only from the stagnant 
depths of a spirit unstirred by generous impulses or the 
blessed necessities of honest toil. 

6. Do not bother yourself about what you cannot 
help, or about circumstances that you did not decree. 

7. Worry has never done any good in the world 
except to kill off those who were not fit to survive in 
the race for existence and success. 

8. Of all the foolish, useless and unprofitable 
things in the scheme of living, worrying is the most 
foolish and useless. Nothing is gained by it, and every- 
thing is lost. 

9. Worry is a disease. Sometimes it becomes a 
crime. 

10. Worry is a habit — one formed so early in life 
that it is often supposed to be ingrained in the very 
make-up of the individual. 

11. You must attack your bad habit of worrying 
as you would a disease. It is something to be overcome, 
an infirmity that you are to get rid of. 



i55 

12. Time occupied in worrying about opportun- 
ities, openings, and starts, is time wasted, because, to 
every capable man, a start and an opportunity are 
always furnished by the necessities of all other men. 

13. No mental attitude is more disastrous to per- 
sonal achievement, personal hapiness, and personal use- 
fulness, than worry and its twin brother despondency. 

14. Do not worry yourself and others with what 
cannot be remedied. 

15. Worry kills as surely, though not so quickly, 
as ever gun or dagger did. 

16. Worry not only impairs the mental faculties, 
but it also destroys or undermines physical power. 

17. The energies of the mind are dissipated in 
worrying, in useless anxiety, in anticipating trouble or 
misfortune, and in thinking about what others will say 
of your work or of yourself. 

18. W^orry wears out more people than work 
does, and fretting causes more unhappiness than either 
sickness or poverty. 

19. Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what 
may never happen. 

20. Anxiety mars your work. Nobody can do his 
best when fevered by worry. 

21. If you hug misery to yourself, by unerring 
law the tides of weakening, unhappy thought set toward 
you, flow into your being, rising higher and higher until 
you are submerged. 

22. Any one who constantly holds the picture of 
want in his mind, talks incessantly of his misfortunes 
or ill luck, and thinks that fate is against him, has no 
chance of winning in the batle of life. He must change 
his point of view or his fortunes will not mend. It is 
fear that makes beggars. 

23. If you perpetually carry your burdens about 
with you, they will soon bear you down under their 
load. 

24. Pride is always trying to spy out faults in oth- 
ers. It wants no virtues to outshine those it claims for 
itself. 



156 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 5. Timidity. 

Our doubts are traitors, 
And make us lose the good we oft might win 
By fearing to attempt. — Shakespeare. 

i. No youth can hope to succeed who is timid, 
who lacks faith in himself, who has not the courage of 
his convictions, and who always seeks for certainty 
before he ventures. 

2. It is natural for the world to believe in the men 
who believe in themselves, who have confidence that 
they can accomplish things. No one has faith in the 
timid, vacillating, undecided man. 

3. There is no impossibility for him who stands 
prepared to conquer every hazard — the fearful are the 
failing. 

4. In matters of great concern, and which must be 
done, there is no surer argument of a weak mind than 
irresolution — to be undetermined when the crisis is plain 
and the necessity urgent. 

5. There is nothing attractive in timidity, nothing 
lovable in fear. Both are deformities and are repulsive. 

6. Excessive shyness must be overcome as an 
obstacle to perfect manners. 

7. The youth who starts out by being afraid to 
speak what he thinks will usually end by being afraid to 
think what he wishes. 

8. The man who waits for absolute certainty in 
regard to the success of his enterprises rarely accom- 
plishes much, and seldom inspires confidence in others. 

9. There is no more universal and deadly foe to 
sucess than shyness, which in many cases becomes a 
malady. 

10. Shy people are always distrustful of their pow- 
ers, and look upon their lack of confidence as a weakness 
or lack of ability, when it may indicate quite the 
reverse. 

11. Hesitation shows a lack of ambition. When 
you are asked to do something, ask no questions, but 



157 

shoulder your task, and bend every energy to carry it 
to a successful termination. 

12. Regard every suggestion that your life may 
be a failure, that you are not made like those who suc- 
ceed, and that success is not for you, as a traitor, and 
expel it from your mind as you would a thief from your 
house. 

13. Fear is the deadly foe of success in every legit- 
imate undertaking. 

14. It is fear that causes the wheels of thought to 
stop. If you can only keep off the clog of fear, the 
mind will go on revolving and find a way of escape when 
there seems none. 

15. Fear makes you a slave to others. 

16. There are few things more degrading to the 
moral nature than fear, the expectation of pain. 

17. To think a thing is impossible is to make it so. 

18. Self-distrust is the cause of most failures. 

19. As soon as a man begins to care about what 
others will say of circumstances not under his control, 
such as his race, his origin, his appearance, his phys- 
ical defects, or his lack of wealth or natural talents, he 
may be laying up for himself a store of incalculable 
misery, and is certainly enfeebling and impairing his 
chances of future usefulness. 

20. Your greatest enemies are your doubts. Reso- 
lutely refuse to surround yourself with an army of 
doubts, fears, and anxieties. Vigorously dispel these 
foes to your success and happiness, or they will under- 
mine your future. 

21. The way to meet doubt is not with the smile 
of approval and the pose of tolerance, but with the sword 
of opposition and the battery of denunciation. 

22. Doubt is an evidence of weakness. The man 
who constantly wavers, hesitates, and shifts from one 
thing to another, does so from doubt of his own capacity 
to improve or protect himself. He is universally con- 
sidered a weak man. 

23. Doubt, hesitation, and over caution, cause 
mental stagnation or mental inefficiency. 



158 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 6. Indifference. 

Better to stem with heart and hand 

The roaring- tide of life, than lie, 
Unmindful, on its flowery strand, 
Of God's occasions drifting- by! 
Better with naked nerve to bear 
The needles of this goading air, 
Than in the lap of sensual ease forego 
The godlike power to do, the godlike aim to know. 

— Whittier. 

i. They who allow themselves, habitually, to vac- 
illate, and hesitate, and remain undecided, in the every- 
day concerns of life, will habitually do so in those larger 
matters which recur less frequently. 

2. Weak-minded youth who allow themselves to be 
pulled hither and thither by the strongest influence 
which happens to be acting at the moment, who have 
not the incisive resolution to choose and stick to one 
unwavering aim, may do something, but they will never 
fulfill their mission, nor perform any work worthy of 
the gift of life and its opportunities. 

3. The man who starts out with the intention of 
doing no more than his part, is apt to be satisfied with 
doing only a part of that. 

4. You find what you seek with all your heart, and 
if you look for nothing in particular, you find just that 
and no more. 

5. Do not sit down and wait for a good job to 
come along and hunt you up. 

6. The habit of dallying is a very dangerous one, 
and, if not strangled at the outset, will prove a grave 
barrier in the path of success. 

7. Have that decision which means success. Get 
rid of that indecision which means defeat. 

8. Nothing of worth or weight can be achieved 
with half a mind, with a faint heart or a lame endeavor. 

9. He that thinks he can afford to be negligent is 
not far from being poor. 

10. No one can accomplish anything great who is 
contented with little, who is confident that he was made 



159 

for little things, or is satisfied with what happens to 
come his way. 

ii. To dally with your purpose, to half will, to 
hang forever in the balance, is to lose your grip on 
life. 

12. The man who works only when he feels like it, 
and has no power to compel himself to do a thing when 
he is averse to it, will never get very high up in the 
world. 

13. The habit of skimming, of doing things in a 
careless, superficial manner, is one of the greatest 
stumbling-blocks to success. 

14. Beware of the danger which lies in fickleness 
of purpose. 

15. Take life easy, shirk every disagreeable duty; 
avoid every responsibility ; get into the popular swim ; 
make it your supreme ambition to have a good time ; — 
you will rapidly drift down the stream that carries many 
a man to perdition. 

16. The purposeless life must ever be a failure. 

17. Indecision, hesitation, infirmness of purpose, 
the failure to act when nothing but vigor of action will 
avail; these will ruin a man as surely and effectively as 
deliberate and outbreaking sin. 

18. Lazienss is the worst foe to everything that is 
worthy and useful in life. 

19. The vacillating man is always pushed aside 
in the race of life. 

20. God never helps the man who will not act. 

21. Negligence is the rust of the soul that corrodes 
through all her best resolves. 

22. It is not men's faults that ruin them so much 
as the manner in which they conduct themselves after 
the faults have been committed. 

23. A shirk and a thief are the same thing. 

24. Do not be drifting constantly from one pur- 
pose to another, but keep your purpose in view and 
press towards it. 

25. There is no place or work for the man without 
a purpose. The world needs men who will not add to 
life's burdens, but who will help to carry them. 



i6o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 7. Fault-Finding. 

Could we forbear dispute and practice love, 
We should agree as angels do above. — Waller. 

1. There is no misery so constant, so distressing, 
and intolerable to others, as that of having a disposition 
which is your master, and which is continually fretting 
itself. 

2. Excessive and indiscriminate scolding, fretting 
and fault-finding are even more injurious than excessive 
and indiscriminate laudation. 

3. A fretful disposition sours all the relations of 
life, is a most pernicious acquisition and a dreadful inher- 
itance. 

4. Murmur at nothing; if your ills are reparable it 
is ungrateful ; if remediless, it is vain. 

5. Fretting is both useless and unnecessary ; it does 
no good and a great deal of harm. 

6. Never find fault unless it is prefectly certain that 
a fault has been committed. 

7. Fretting weakens your own self-respect. 

8. Fretting is as vain and useless a habit as you 
can harbor. Nothing so warps your nature, sours your 
disposition and breaks up your friendly relations. 

9. Fretting resorts to fear, apeals to brute force, 
and in return awakens only dread and dislike. It is an 
evil force that fosters the faults it seeks in vain to cor- 
rect. 

10. It is impossible to love an habitual fault-finder. 

11. He that can please nobody is not so much to 
be pitied as he that nobody can please. 

12. Instances are very rare where people of irasci- 
ble tempers live to extreme old age. 

13. No outward lot can give content to a grumbling 
soul. 

14. The usual fortune of complaint is to call forth 

contempt more than pity. 

15. Bear with much that seems impertinent. It 



i6i 

may not appear so to others and you may learn some- 
thing from it. 

16. Slight small injuries and they will become none 
at all. 

17. Be not disturbed by trifles or accidents com- 
mon or unavoidable. 

18. It is hard to believe that others cannot see 
what seems plain to you ; everything is in the position 
you happen to occupy. 

19. It highly gratifies a low disposition when it 
can find a fault in some highly-respected brother. 

20. You are too apt to see the abuse of a thing. 
The abuse is nothing against the proper use. 

21. Think it over and you will see that nothing 
can be done better by impatience than by its opposite. 

22. There is no good to be looked for from a youth 
who, having done no substantial work of his own, sets 
up a business of finding faults in other people's work, 
and calls this practice of finding fault criticism. 

23. There is enough in the world to complain about 
and find fault with, if you have the disposition. You 
often travel on a hard and uneven road, but with a cheer- 
ful spirit you may walk therein with great comfort and 
come to the end of your journey in peace. 

24. A morbid theory is like a horrid cancer bring- 
ing suffering and despair. If you despise sweetness and 
light do not try to embitter the lives of others by purring 
at the little light that warms and cheers them. 

25. The men who find the most fault are rarely 
those who work effectively to destroy the evils com- 
plained of. 

26. Do not make yourself and others unhappy by 
your ingratitude and complaints. 

2J. Wailings and complainings of life are never of 
any use ; only cheerful and continuous working in right 
paths are of real avail. 

28. When differences arise they should be con- 
ducted with reason and moderation. 

29. Never do you portray your own character more 
vividly than in your manner of portraying another's. 



1 62 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 8. Greed. 

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates and men decay. 

— Goldsmith. 

i. The highest character, the noblest manhood, 
can never be developed under a low, sordid aim. 

2. The man who is always studying his own ad- 
vantage, always looking for the main chance, never elic- 
its love, or calls forth high admiration. 

3. The youth who begins his career with a deter- 
mination merely to get rich, to amass a great fortune, 
unconsciously sets up a standard which will dwarf and 
demoralize the better part of himself. 

4. It cannot be too often repeated or too strongly 
emphasized, that the soul-consuming thirst for gold, 
which burns like a slow fever in thousands of lives, de- 
stroys all the finer sensibilities, and all possibility of 
real happiness. 

5. There is something hardening, demoralizing, 
and brutalizing in a mere money-making career, which 
strangles all the finer instincts for the good, the beauti- 
ful, and the true, dries up the sympathies for the mis- 
fortunes of others, dwarfs the growth of the higher self, 
marbleizes the affections, crushes out all that makes life 
strong, sweet, serene, and beautiful. 

6. Mean, stingy, and uncharitable persons never 
advance very far in the world ; and, even if they happen 
to make money, they are depised in spite of it. 

7. True thrift consists in getting all the good you 
can out of everything. 

8. Many a bright, promising youth has become a 
failure in life, dwarfed his manhood, cramped his intel- 
lect, crushed his aspirations, blunted his finer sensibil- 
ities in some mean, narrow, unworthy occupation, be- 
cause he could make money in it. 

9. In the rush for wealth people murder health, en- 
ergy, comfort, culture, friendship — all that they should 
really hold dearest. 

10. The less you seek the more truly you live, and 



163 

the more happy you are ; for an unselfish life kills vices, 
extinguishes desires, strengthens the soul, and elevates 
the mind to higher things. 

ii. There is something about the exclusive pursuit 
of wealth which dwarfs and paralyzes all the nobler as- 
pirations. 

12. Money-making is not an ennobling occupation, 
and he who values money most values himself least. 

13. People who are over zealous in putting money 
into their purses have no time to put beauty into their 
lives. 

14. The miser is never satisfied. He amasses 
wealth that he can never consume, whereas the econo- 
mist aims at securing a fair share of the world's wealth 
and comfort, without any thought of amassing a fortune. 

15. You should be satisfied with what is reasona- 
ble without seeking to have everything. But such is the 
nature of greed that it cannot content itself with mod- 
erate possessions. 

16. The great multitude are not satisfied with a 
moderate fortune. They become avaricious to a certain 
extent, and hence they struggle for more, even after they 
have accumulated a sufficiency, and at the risk very of- 
ten of health and strength, and even life itself. 

17. To enjoy money you must learn how to use it 
as well as to earn it, for of all the many failures in life 
the stingy man is among the worst. 

18. God has made selfishness unlovable, and 
shaped the universal human heart to despise it, and He 
has made unselfishness so lovable that you cannot with- 
hold from it your admiration. 

19. The substitution of an inferior ideal for a su- 
perior ideal is the greatest calamity you can suffer. You 
must never lower your standard in order more easily to 
reach it. 

20. A passion for the accumulation of wealth de- 
moralizes the individual until all life's ideals have fallen 
low, and the pursuers have become mere money-getting 
glands, secreting nothing but dollars, and are withering, 
blasting curses. Greed is a monster passion which de- 
vours everything in its path. 



164 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 9. Pride. 

We rise in glory, as we sink in pride: 

Where boasting ends, there dignity begins. — Young. 

1. You should not be proud of what you are, but 
of what you are able to contribute to the happiness and 
improvement of others. 

2. Pride is less ashamed of being ignorant than 
of being instructed, and it looks too high to find that 
which very often lies beneath it. 

3. Pride makes no increase of merit in the person ; 
it creates envy and hastens misfortune. 

4. Pride is based on real or fancied superiority to 
others. Envy is due to real or fancied inferiority. Pride 
is the vice of the strong, envy of the weak. 

5. Pride is always trying to cover up faults, and 
those who see the attempt are quite apt to ridicule it. 

6. The more truly you estimate yourself, the less 
proud you will be. 

7. Other vices choose to be in the dark, but pride 
loves always to be seen in the light. 

8. Pride is usually the result of ignorance. 
The more you know the less you think you know. 

9. Pride tries to elevate itself by pulling down the 
reputation of other people. 

10. There is a just and lawful pride, and against 
this nothing can be said. You should have self-respect. 

11. If you are entirely without pride there would 
be no hope for your improvement and little prospect of 
your being of any account to anybody, not excepting 
yourself. 

12. You should have a just pride in your good 
name, in your attainments, in your successes, in your 
high aims, in your noble endeavors to be useful. 

13. Your pride should dwell in your principles and 
not in your demeanor. 

14. Against threats and bribes pride is the ally of 
principle. 



165 

15. When you fail your pride supports you; when 
you succeed it betrays you. 

16. Vanity is the great commanding passion of all. 
It excites the most heroic deeds, and impels to the most 
dreadful crimes. If you can control this passion you 
can defy the others. 

17. Judge of yourself with an honest self-respect, 
conscious of what you are and can be ; but as you value 
your position, let your self-judgment be free from van- 
ity, conceit and narrowness. 

18. Vanity has played the leading part in nearly 
every considerable act of depredation whether by men 
or women. 

19. There can be no doubt of the vast importance 
and the generally beneficial results of a keen sensitive- 
ness to the opinions of your fellow men. 

20. Affectation lights a candle to your defects, and 
though it may gratify you it disgusts all others. 

21. He that overvalues himself will undervalue 
others, and he that undervalues others will oppress 
them. 

22. Boasting seldom or never accompanies a sense 
of real power. When you feel that you can express your- 
self by deeds, you do not often care to do so by words. 

23. Haughtiness bears a striking resemblance to 
both of its parents — egotism and hate. 

24. You follow the world in approving others, but 
you go before it in approving yourself. 

25. Many men make the mistake of believing they 
are smarter than other people. 

26. Whoever looks with too great approval on his 
character or his action has in consequence less character 
and is disarmed for future action. 

27. Those who talk about themselves more than 
about their cause are sure to fail, and they merit the 
contempt they have earned. 

28. He who thinks himself already too wise to 
learn of others, will never succeed in doing anything 
either good or great. 



i66 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 10. Crime. 

Man's inhumanity to man 

Makes countless thousands mourn. — Burns. 

1. Violation of the decencies of life, and lawless- 
ness, even by effervescent youth, should be treated as 
criminal offences. 

2. Impure familiarities, glances, and sports, are 
the commonest of actual crimes. 

3. To speak disparagingly of a woman, or criticise 
women in general, is certain evidence of a depraved na- 
ture. 

4. It is difficult for a man to have sense and be a 
knave. 

5. Sin is the resulting moral condition of the soul, 
when a rational being, at the dictates of his lower na- 
ture, thinks, desires, or acts contrary to what he knows 
is for the best. • 

6. Nine-tenths of the vicious desires that degrade 
society, and which, when indulged, swell into crimes 
that disgrace it, would shrink into insignificance before 
the advance of valiant self-discipline, self-respect and 
self-control. 

7. The mean mind occupies itself with sneering, 
carping and fault-finding, and is ready to scoff at every- 
thing but impudent effrontery or successful vice. 

8. The surest means for preventing wrong doing 
in the man is a careful training of the child. 

9. Certain conditions produce criminals. These 
conditions can be eliminated by the proper education of 
the child. 

10. Sin is not an impulse, but a result of a series 
of impressions — something picked up in fragments by 
the way and pieced together. 

11. It is the coward who fawns on those above 
him. It is the coward who is insolent whenever he dares 
to be. 

12. There is no manhood in the heart which treats 
despitefully one who neither provokes nor retaliates. 



167 

13. He that is violent in the pursuit of pleasure 
will not mind to turn villain for the purchase. 

14. Do not pry into affairs that do not concern you, 
and do not talk about other people's private affairs. 

15. The dissipated youth becomes a tainted man, 
and often he cannot be pure, even if he would. 

16. It is infinitely more needful for you to be con- 
scious of your vices than of your virtues; the former 
should be unmercifully bared, while the latter best grow 
in the shade. 

17. It is largely conceded that human nature is 
such that there is something in the misfortune of others, 
even your friends, that pleases you. 

18. The foolish and wicked practice of profane 
cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that ev- 
ery person of sense and character detests and despises 
it. 

19. He who is capable of a great crime is also in- 
capable of shame concerning it. 

20. It is the function of civil government to make 
it easy to do right and difficult to do wrong. 

21. Of all mean vices, perhaps lying is the mean- 
est. It is in some cases the offspring of perversity and 
vice, and in others of sheer moral cowardice. 

22. He who commits a sin not only hurts himself, 
but makes life more difficult for some one else. 

23. If it is possible to prevent a wrong, and you 
fail to do it, the wrong-doing is as much yours as his 
who actually performed it. 

24. Slander springs from the impulse to convince 
people that other folks are just as bad as you are. 

25. No matter how clever a man is, he is never so 
clever that he can afford to do wrong. The man who 
can play the game of dishonesty and win out must be 
shrewder than Almighty God. 

26. Nothing works more unfailingly than the leav- 
en of evil, and a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 

2J. The man who lives in vain lives worse than in 
vain. He who lives to no purpose lives to a bad pur- 
pose. 

28. Vice stings you even in your pleasure, but vir- 
tue consoles you, even in your pains. 



i68 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 11. Deceit. 

O what a tangled web we weave, 

When first we practice to deceive. — Scott. 

1. Deceivers never play their part absolutely true, 
the mask will slip down sometimes ; their cleverness 
cannot teach their eyes the look of sterling honesty ; they 
may deceive some people, but they cannot deceive all. 

2. Use no hurtful deceit ; think innocently and 
justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly. 

3. Subtlety may deceive you, integrity never will. 

4. Whoever pays more court to you than he is ac- 
customed to pay, either intends to deceive you or finds 
you necessary to him. 

5. All artifice is not only sinful, but is generally de- 
tected, even by children. 

6. It is especially necessary to guard against that 
deceit which is too often the consequence of indolence. 

7. The slightest duplicity destroys confidence. 

8. Hypocracy is an actual lie. It is deception in 
its worst form. It speaks with the voice of sanctity and 
wears the mask of devotion, but it is false to the heart's 
centre. It is deception for the express purpose of seem- 
ing to be free from deception. Its sanctity is simulated 
and its virtues are all false. 

9. The hypocrite is the basest counterfeit that cir- 
culates in the mart of life. He may escape exposure, 
but that will not save his character. He is the embodi- 
ment of fraud. 

10. Hypocracy is cool, calculating, villainy. It 
wears piety as a mask. It lacks principle and convic- 
tion. 

11. Precept at variance with practice is worse than 
useless, inasmuch as it only serves to teach the most 
cowardly of vices — hypocracy. 

12. Everything unnatural, everything bordering on 
hypocracy, is to be most carefully checked. 

13. A specious criminal selects a reputable guise 
under which to accomplish his villainies. 



169 

14. Suspicion is your natural armor against impo- 
sition. 

15. Consciousness of having failed in duty will al- 
most inevitably induce a person to take refuge in false- 
hood or mean excuses. 

16. There is no vice that so covers a man with 
shame as to be found false and perfidious. 

17. Sham courtesy is the most transparent of all 
humbugs. 

18. A right-minded man will shrink from seeming 
what he is not, or pretending to be richer than he really 
is, or assuming a style of living that his circumstances 
will not justify. 

19. The surest way to reveal your weakness is to 
hide your motives. 

20. Talent and worth will manifest themselves 
without resorting to trickery. 

21. There is nothing more diligently to be avoided 
than every species of affectation ; it is always detected 
and it always disgusts. 

22. Duplicity of conduct will not win implicity of 
confidence. 

23. A lie told as a joke is no less a lie because it 
is a joke, and a joking liar cannot be a gentleman. 

24. The strongest chain of circumstantial evidence 
may be broken by the slightest fact. 

25. A character that is strong, that rings as the 
perfect bell does, is the character you must have if you 
would rank well among men and make the most of life. 
You cannot conceal the flaws, and any attempt to do it 
will soon be detected. 

26. A double-minded man is unstable in all his 
ways. 

27 On no occasion, nor under any temptation, mis- 
lead or falsify. 

28. Lying is not only dishonest but cowardly. 

29. No matter how intimate your supposed friend 
may be, the discovery of a purpose to deprave your 
mind, to corrupt your morals, proves him false to you. 

30. Question the assertions of one who cannot be 
pinned to details, dates, names, or references. 



170 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book IX. Part 12. Jealousy. 

It is jealousy's peculiar nature 

To swell small thing's to great; nay, out of naught 

To conjure much, and then to lose its reason 

Amid the hideous phantoms it has formed. — Young. 

1. Of all the passions, jealousy is that which ex- 
acts the hardest service and pays the bitterest wages. 

2. Jealousy is unthinking and often desperate. 

3. Jealousy will sometimes change a lovely charac- 
ter to that of a fiend. 

4. Those who are jealous cannot help but be un- 
happy. 

5. The envious, jealous man can never be a friend. 
His mean spirit of detraction and insinuating ill-will 
kills friendship at its birth. 

6. As a rule, men of rank, power, money and in- 
fluence are jealous of those beneath them, especially 
those of unusual intelligence, who seek to rise to their 
altitude. 

7. Envious and jealous people, as a rule, are not 
really courteous. The genuine, the sincere, the helpful 
persons are the ones who constitute the best society. 

8. A man that is prying and inquisitive is common- 
ly envious. 

9. A man that has no virtue in himself is ever en- 
vious of virtue in others. 

10. One main cause of discontent is found in that 
envy at once unreasonable and foolish, which leads you 
to compare yourself with others, and always to your own 
disparagement. 

11. Expect no praise without envy until you are 
dead. 

12. The only thing that envy can buy is disap- 
pointment. 

13. He that pursues virtue only to surpass others, 
is not far from wishing others less forward than him- 
self ; and he that rejoices too much at his own perfec- 
tions will be too little grieved at the defects of other 
men. 



171 

14- Better adorn your own than seek another's 
place. 

15. Better find one of your own faults than ten of 
your neighbor's. 

16. Constant success shows only one side of the 
world ; for it surrounds you with friends who tell you 
only of your merits, so it silences those enemies from 
-whom only you can learn your defects. 

17. Any good man who has an ounce of manly 
purpose and vim in him will be certain to arouse some 
people in enmity against him. 

18. A man who has reached mature years and has 
riad no enemies is a man of little force. 

19. Flatterers are the worst kind of enemies. 

20. The man against whom nothing is said, is not, 
as a rule, worth much notice. 

21. If you spend your time looking after the faults 
•of others, you neglect your own. 

22. The person who is suspicious regarding anoth- 
er's actions is generally the one most in need of watch- 
ing. 

23. There is nothing stronger than human preju- 
dice. 

24. Suspicion is no friend to virtue and always 
an enemy to happiness. 

25. The blasts of calumny, howl they ever so 
fiercely over the good man's head, contribute to his just- 
«r appreciation and to his wider fame. 

26. Go right along about your business. Do not 
mind the idle talk of slanderous tongues of the thought- 
less or malicious. 

27. The scandal monger is a mirror in which is 
reflected the faults he complains of. 

28. Vain are the efforts of slander permanently to 
injure the fame of a good man. 

29. Ill reports do harm to him that makes them 
and to those they are made to, as well as those they are 
made of. 

30. Do not allow your mind to constantly present 
the unfavorable side of your choice and the attractive 
side of what other people have chosen. 



172 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 1. Happiness. 

Our aim is happiness, 'tis yours, 'tis mine, 

He said; 'tis the pursuit of all that live; 

Yet few attain it, if 'twas e'er attained. 

But they the widest wander from the mark, 

Who through the flowery path of sauntering joy 

Seek this coy goddess: that from stage to stage 

Invites us still, but shifts as we pursue. — Armstrong. 

1. Happiness depends upon a sound mind in a 
sound body, the love of your friends, and the ability to 
appreciate the beauties and harmonies of earth and sky, 
which are the free gifts of the Creator to every living 
creature. 

2. A profession of indifference to riches is gener- 
ally hypocritical ; but it is certain that they are not es- 
sential to happiness. There is a point, beyond which, 
all that a man can gain contributes little to positive en- 
joyment. 

3. The child must learn to be happy while he is 
plodding over his lessons, the apprentice while he is 
learning his trade, the merchant while he is making his 
fortune, or they will be sure to miss their enjoyment 
when they have gained what they have striven for. 

4. Your happiness will be found to be very much 
in proportion to the number of things you love, and the 
number of things that love you. 

5. Happiness is to be sought in the possession of 
true manhood rather than in its internal conditions. 

6. Pleasure and happiness are the fruits of work 
and labor, never of carelessness and indifference. 

7. Art is one of the purest and highest elements in 
human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, 
and the eye through the mind. 

8. Happiness lies on the side of culture and virtue. 
Every good companion, every good book, every good 
thought, helps the good tendencies. If you persistently 
strive after good, you will, in time, no matter what ten- 
dencies you inherit, become a good, virtuous, and happy 
man. 



173 

g. Nature provides without stint the main requi- 
sites of human happiness. 

10. Extract the little sweets of life as they come, 
and scatter them over a healthful lifetime, rather than 
poison happiness and shorten life in a gorge of dissipa- 
tion. 

ii. The applause of conscience, the self-respect of 
pride, the consciousness of independence, a manly joy 
in usefulness, the consent of every faculty of the mind, 
to your occupation, and their gratification in it — these 
constitute a happiness superior to the fever-flashes of 
vice in its brightest moments. 

12. Happiness consists in being perfectly satisfied 
with what you have got and with what you have not 
got. 

13. There are two ways of being happy — you may 
either diminish your wants, or augment your means ; 
either will do — the result is the same. But if you are 
wise you will do both in such a manner as to augment 
the general happiness of society. 

14. He alone is the happy man who has learned to 
extract happiness, not from ideal conditions, but from 
the actual ones about him. 

15. It is certain that happiness depends mainly on 
equanimity of disposition, patience and forbearance, and 
kindness and thoughtfulness for those about you. 

16. The pursuit of happiness is one of the basic 
principles of human life, so do not disturb your neigh- 
bor in seeking his. 

17. Happiness does not depend on money, but it 
certainly prospers on it. 

18. Prosperity and success of themselves do not 
confer happiness ; indeed, it not unfrequently happens 
that the least successful in life have the greatest share 
of true joy in it. 

19. Happiness is not attained by making it the 
chief object in life. The path to it often leads through 
trials and tears. 

20. The most delicate, the most sensible of all 
pleasures, consists in promoting the happiness of others. 

21. Excitement is not enjoyment, happiness is 
calmness. 



174 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 2. Health. 

Nor love, nor wealth, nor power, 
Can give the heart a cheerful hour 
When health is lost. — Gay. 

1. All the united and combined treasures of the 
world cannot compare with the value of good health. 

2. If a person be in perfect health, the very act of 
living is itself true happiness and thorough enjoyment, 
the greatest the world can bestow. 

3. Without good health and a sound body, moder- 
ate success in life may be painfully possible ; with them a 
place in the front rank may be attained with far greater 
ease. 

4. The capacity for continuous working in any 
calling must necessarily depend in a great measure on 
health ; and hence the necessity for attending to it, even 
as a means of intellectual labor. 

5. Nature's price for health is regularity. You 
cannot safely bottle up sleep tonight for tomorrow 
night's use, or force your stomach at one meal because 
you expect to eat sparingly at the next, or become 
exhausted in working day and night, expecting to make 
it up later. 

6. No one thing contributes more to health or suc- 
cess than a strong, vigorous will. It is a perpetual 
health tonic, physically and mentally. It braces the sys- 
tem, enabling it to endure hardships, disappointments 
and disease. 

7. As a rule, physical vigor is the condition of a 
great career. 

8. Your work is a part of yourself, and if you have 
a weakness anywhere of brain or nerve, it will sooner 
or later show itself in what you do, whatever it may be. 

9. There are great advantages in the way of 
health that come to the person who is buoyant and 
happy, seeing the bright, even the ludicrous side of the 
affairs of life. 



175 

io. Physical health has a strong influence on 
character, and should be assiduously guarded in the 
home and in the school. 

ii. Other things being equal, intelligent, cultured, 
educated people enjoy the best health. 

12. Worry, anxiety, jealousy, malice, hatred, hot 
temper, tclfishness, dishonesty, perversion of moral in- 
tegrity; in short, every discordant or abnormal thought, 
emotion, or expression, tends to destroy that perfect 
equilibrium of the faculties and functions which is 
called health. 

13. In youth you should gain a reserve fund of 
strength and health to draw upon in later years. 

14. The care and preservation of health is a moral 
duty and must be ranked among the cardinal virtues — 
that is, among the virtues which are the most important 
and essential to your well-being. 

15. You have no right to allow your physical frame 
to remain in an uncultivated condition. 

16. The requirements of health are good air, good 
food, suitable clothing, cleanliness, and exercise and 
rest. 

17. Water, air and sunshine, the Three greatest 
hygienic agents, are free and within the reach of all. 

18. Health, strength and longevity, depend on 
immutable laws. There is no chance about them. 

19. The body is the background of all the achieve- 
ments of your life. 

20. Next to life itself, the question of perfect 
physical health is of the greatest importance. 

21. No energy, industry or opportunity can be 
made a substitute for health. 

22. In versatility lies a large secret of health and 
happiness. 

23. Health lies in labor, and there is no royal road 
to it but through toil. 

24. Do not expect to have health for nothing. 
Nothing worth anything can be obtained without effort. 

25. Genius is health, and beauty is health, and 
virtue is health. 



176 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 3. Money. 

Trade it may help, society extend, 

But lures the pirate, and corrupts the friend; 

It raises armies in a nation's aid, 

But bribes the senate, and the land's betrayed. 

— Pope. 

1. The pursuit of wealth is not only legitimate, but 
a duty. If a man is a man and his fortune be honestly 
won and used, it will increase his usefulness and multiply 
his power. 

2. There can be no appreciable social progress 
without wealth. 

3. The acquirement of wealth is not a test of char- 
acter. 

4. No man is as rich as all men ought to be. 

5. Wealth is not an end to strive for, but an oppor- 
tunity. Not the climax of your career, but the begin- 
ning. 

6. The desire to be rich, to have an abundance, to 
have more than you need for immediate requirements, 
seems to be in all healthy natures. It is one of the chief 
springs of human action. 

7. The avaricious person makes gold his idol, 
before which he constantly bows down, whereas the 
thrifty person regards it as a useful instrument, and as 
a means of promoting his own happiness and the happi- 
ness of those who are dependent on him. 

8. Wealth is not his that has it, but his that 
enjoys it. 

9. The crowning joy of wealth is in the service of 
society and of mankind. 

10. Money is a good friend if rightly used. Power 
and influence are blessings when their use is controlled 
by lofty purposes. 

11. Ready money is a remedy for many ills. 

12. Wealth is the source of half the nobleness as 
well as half the misery of life. 

13. Wealth in the hands of men of weak purpose, 
of deficient self-control, or of ill-regulated passions, is 



177 

only a temptation and a snare — the source, it may be, of 
infinite mischief to themselves, and often to others. 

14. Wealth that comes through worth and seeks 
benevolence, is a noble gift. A rich man with a good 
heart is one of God's choicest gifts to men. 

15. Wealth is a relative thing, since he that has 
little and wants less, is richer than he that has much but 
wants more. 

16. All property that men acquire is really only in 
the nature of trust funds, which the property holder 
is in duty bound to use as a steward, to better the con- 
dition of life of others as well as himself, and make 
men and communities happier and more useful. 

17. When wealth is concentrated in the hands of a 
few, it is more potent to help or harm, those who are 
beneath its immediate influence. 

18. While it is right to strive to abound and be 
prosperous, it is necessary to remember that abundance, 
whether the riches be in gold or knowledge or power, 
is matched by its responsibilities. 

19. It is no sin to be rich, nor to wish to be rich, 
nor to try to be rich ; the mistake is in being too eager 
after riches. 

20. The value of money depends partly on know- 
ing what to do with it, and partly on the manner in 
which it is acquired. 

21. Wealth is demoralizing when obtained at the 
sacrifice of character. 

22. Money blights, blasts and corrupts, when 
sought for its own sake. 

23. While your earthly goods are kept under your 
feet they will do you no hurt, but when they rise as 
high as your heart, they have begun to bury you alive. 

24. The more money you have the more moral 
strength is needed to protect you from its demoralizing 
influence. 

25. Many have been ruined by their fortunes ; many 
have escaped ruin by the want of fortune. To obtain it, 
the great become little and the little great. 

26. Money often brings danger, trouble and temp- 
tation. 



i 7 8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 4. Better Than Money. 

To whom can riches give repute or trust, 
Content or pleasure, but the good and just? 
Judges and senates have been bought for gold, 
Esteem and love were never to be sold. — Pope. 

1. Existence gathers such enjoyment as it is capa- 
ble of realizing from sources not controllable by the 
purchasing power of money. 

2. Riches may be amassed by the worst of men and 
means ; but a good character implies a good man, for 
the character is yourself. 

3/ There are many things done for love which are 
a thousand times better than those done for money. 
The former inspire the spirit of heroism and self-devo- 
tion. The latter die with the giving. 

4. A great fortune is not necessary for the attain- 
ment of faith, hope, or charity; and he that is endowed 
with these cannot be miserable. 

5. The possession of wealth cannot compare with 
having the mentality stirred by a passion for expansion, 
being dragged out of the narrow rut of ignorance to come 
into close communion with the great and the grand of 
all ages, being brought into contact with nature, feeling 
the divine touch of science, and forming intimate rela- 
tions with the entire universe. 

6. Peace of mind is one of the best things to seek, 
and fine tastes and feelings. The man who gets these, 
and maintains himself comfortably, is much more admir- 
able than the one who gets money and neglects these. 

7. The desirable treasure of wisdom and knowledge 
which all men covet from the impulse of nature, infinitely 
surpasses all the riches of the world. 

8. Nothing is more pitiable than for a person to 
have more property than he has manhood. 

9. You may learn the whole system of divine and 
important truths; you may acquit yourself with all the 
beauty and enjoyment of virtue ; and you may learn tem- 
perance, fortitude, justice, modesty, constancy, patience, 



179 

and contempt for the world, without the assistance of 
much more wealth than will serve to feed and clothe 
you. 

10. There is nothing that makes men rich and 
strong but that which they carry inside of them. Wealth 
is of the heart, not of the hand. 

ii. He is rich who has learned to infuse into his 
vocation and surroundings, no matter how humble they 
may be, that high sense of beauty and harmony which 
transforms the common into the uncommon, lifts the 
artisan into the artist, and makes even drudgery divine. 

12. There are riches of intellect, and no man with 
an intellectual taste can be called poor. 

13. Wealth cannot purchase pleasures of the high- 
est sort. It is the heart, taste, and judgment which 
determine the happiness of man, and restore him to 
the highest form of being. 

14. Money cannot buy everything. It cannot buy 
health, life or love. If you were a hundred times richer 
than you are, you could not multiply your wants and 
pleasures by one hundred. 

15. Good bones are better than gold, tough mus- 
cles than silver, and nerves that carry energy to every 
function are better than houses and land. 

16. What the world wants is young men who will 
amass golden thoughts, golden wisdom, golden deeds, 
not mere golden dollars ; young men who prefer to have 
thought-capital, character-capital, to cash-capital. 

17. The men who enrich the world with real wealth 
are not, as a rule, those who have the most money. 

18. Success in life is not to be measured by the 
money you earn. If you succeed in reaching the full 
measure of your usefulness, if you instill proper ideas 
of life and right principles of action and thought into 
the world to the best of your ability, or if you always do 
the best you know how, then you are great, and grand, 
and a noble success, however small a sustenance you 
may have. 



i8o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 5. Friendship. 

Who seeks a friend, should come disposed 
To exhibit, in full bloom disclosed, 

The graces and the beauties 
That form the character he seeks: 
For 'tis a union that bespeaks 

Reciprocal duties. — Cowper. 

1. No blessing of life is in any way comparable to 
the enjoyment of a discreet and virtuous friend; it eases 
and unloads the mind, clears and improves the under- 
standing, engenders thoughts and knowledge, animates 
virtue and good resolutions, soothes and allays passions, 
and finds employment for the most vacant hours of life. 

2. Friendship is not only a beautiful and noble 
thing for a. man, but the relation of it is also the ideal for 
the state; for if the citizens are friends, then justice, 
which is the great concern of all organized societies, is 
more than secured. 

3. Friendship is supported by nothing artificial ; 
it depends on reciprocity and esteem. The only way 
to have a friend is to be one. 

4. Some men shed friends at every step they rise in 
the social scale. It is mean and contemptible to merely 
use men so long as they further your personal inter- 
ests. 

5. The interest that makes friends must be both 
kindly and honest. 

6. Do not fail to have among your friends one or 
more noble women. 

7. No one can long be your friend for whom you 
have not a decided esteem that will not permit you to 
trifle with his feelings, and which, of course, will prevent 
his trifling with yours. Great familiarity is inconsistent 
v/ith abiding friendship. 

8. When two people appreciate each other because 
each has found the other convenient to have around, 
they are not friends. 

9. Make no friend of one who does not meet your 
confidence half way. There is no friendship without 
mutual trust. 



i8i 

10. Friendship is to be valued for what there is in 
it, not what can be gotten out of it. 

ii. A man who succeeds must have friends. These 
are not to be bought or borrowed ready made; they 
must be evolved out of the men and women whom he 
meets, both in social life and in business. 

12. Friendship always carries with it that which 
is loving and lovable, a mutual liking, esteem for each 
other leading to sympathy and helpfulness. 

13. Friendship throws a great lustre on prosperity, 
while it lightens adversity by sharing in its griefs and 
anxieties. 

14. The essence of friendship is entireness, a total 
magnanimity and trust. 

15. Much as worthy friends add to the happiness 
and value of life, you must in the main depend on your- 
self, and everyone is his own best friend or worst en- 
emy. 

16. There is no influence more powerful in youth, 
and sometimes quite through life, than friendship ; none 
more delightful or blessed where it reaches an ap- 
proach to the best. 

17. Friendly feelings must have influence so long 
as human nature is what it is. 

18. Under the magnetism of friendship the mod- 
est man becomes bold ; the shy, confident ; the lazy, ac- 
tive ; or the impetuous, prudent and peaceful. 

19. Everyone yearns for a heart that beats in un- 
ison with his own, for an ear into which he can pour his 
confidences and troubles, for a hand he can safely grasp, 
and for an arm he can always lean on. 

20. If your friends are badly chosen they will in- 
evitably drag you down ; if well they will raise you up. 

21. In selecting your friends you should remember 
that you will borrow habits, traits of character, modes 
of thought and expression, from each other; therefore 
be careful to select those who have not excellences 
merely, but whose faults are as few as may be. 



182 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 6. Heredity. 

Shall we call those noble, who disgrace 
Their lineage, proud of an illustrious race; 
Seek not to shine by borrowed lights alone, 
But with your father's glories blend your own. 

— Gifford. 

1. You should have a proper respect for your an- 
cestors, but of what possible use is it to parade their 
virtues when you lack these virtues yourself? You 
should be some credit to the memory of your ancestors. 

2. Success is due largely to heredity, that is, birth 
counts for a good deal. 

3. In general, mental powers, like bodily powers, 
are inherited. 

4. Heredity certainly stands for something, but 
achievement stands for more. 

5. You are more like the company you keep than 
that from which you descended. Unconscious education 
is more powerful than heredity. 

6. Up to a certain point your character is formed 
for you by heredity, beyond this it is formed by you 
through habit. 

7. Every inherited instinct or tendency may be de- 
veloped into a virtue or degraded into vice. It must be 
watched, not trusted. 

8. Title and ancestry render a good man more 
illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible. 

9. There is no real aristocracy except that of char- 
acter. 

10. It is better to make your descendants proud of 
you than to be proud of your ancestry. 

11. It is a grander thing to be nobly remembered 
than to be nobly born. 

12. It is not ancestry and splendid descent, but ed- 
ucation and circumstances, which form the man. 

13. Not only what is born with you, but also what 
you acquire makes you a man. 

14. Heredity and environment are the determining 
forces that stand for your fate. 



i83 

15. The combined influences of heredity and edu- 
cation are constantly at work, moulding and shaping 
men and their intellects. 

16. Religion and science unite in positive language, 
that the defects of the parents are discoverable in the 
children. 

17. The advantage of riches remains with those 
who procured them, not with the heir. 

18. All that was good and true in the olden times 
will live in the new. 

19. You ought to be conscious of the fact that you 
are the product of the labor of ages, and whatever you 
do, be it good or evil, will live after you, so far as your 
individuality impresses itself on and influences your con- 
temporaries. 

20. The morality of the world depends largely on 
the moral habits which mankind have formed in the 
course of many ages, and which are transmitted from 
generation to generation. 

21. To be the son of one whose memory lingers 
like light in the air, is not only a delightful recollection, 
and a powerful stimulant, but a great material aid in 
life. 

22. A life well spent, a character uprightly sustain- 
ed, is no slight legacy to leave to your children, and to the 
world; for it is the most eloquent lesson of nature and 
the severest reproof of vice, while it continues an endur- 
ing source of the best kind of riches. 

23. The millions of the past, whose ashes have 
mingled with the dust for centuries, still live in their 
destinies through the laws of heredity. 

24. People do not care about your ancestors ; they 
reckon you up, however, and some find out just what 
you are. 

25. The most rigorous regimen, the most confirm- 
ed industry and steadfast morality, can alone disarm in- 
herited wealth and reduce it to a blessing. 

26. One who is born of lowly parents, whose family 
demands nothing from him, who has no place to sustain 
from the time he first begins to apprehend his surround- 
ings, with all his disadvantages has at least the privilege 
of creating his own responsibilities. 



1 84 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 7. Life. 

A sacred burden is this life ye bear, 
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly, 
Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly. 
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin, 
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win. 

— Franc'es Ann Kemble. 

i. The happy, prosperous life would be impossible 
without conformity to the laws of human nature; there- 
fore, the sooner you learn what these laws are, and obey 
them in your practice, the larger will be the measure of 
your welfare. 

2. The highest end of life is to so live that the 
great purpose behind you may work itself out through 
you, and that, whether speaking or silent, whether work- 
ing or at rest, the unconscious atmosphere which you 
carry with you may breathe purity, fidelity and loyalty. 

3. Your view of life must always be influenced and 
colored more or less by the condition of your mind and 
body. 

4. Life may be earnest and sincere without being 
morally and intellectually wearisome and disagreeable. 

5. Between satiety on the one hand and want on 
the other, the stream of life flows tranquilly along, which, 
but for these boundaries, would soon waste itself and dis- 
appear. 

6. Life is full of responsibilities and opportunities, 
and they generally go together. 

7. Life is an individual problem that every man 
must solve for himself. 

8. The ideal art of living is the art of being true 
to all the relations of life. True to the home, to social 
circles, to city, to state, school, business, and to the 
church. 

9. Power and a constant growth toward a higher 
life are the great end of human existence. 

10. The wise person gradually learns not to expect 
too much from life. While he strives for success by 
worthy methods, he will be prepared for failure. 



ii. Life was meant to be joyous and glad. 

12. Value the ends of life more than the means. 

13. Life all sunshine without shade, all happiness 
without sorrow, all pleasure without pain, were not life 
at all, and not worth living. 

14. Life is a battle between good and evil, from 
childhood. Good influences drawing you up toward the 
divine ; bad influences drawing you down to the brute. 

15. To feel the faculties expanding and unfolding — 
this is the only life worth living. 

16. Apart from accidents, you hold your life large- 
ly at will. 

17. In taking yourself and life too seriously, you 
not only miss a lot of fun, but defeat the very ends you 
are apparently seeking. 

18. Life is for the most part but the mirror of your 
individual self. To the good the world is good; to the 
bad it is bad. 

19. If your views of life be elevated — if you re- 
gard it as a sphere of useful effort, of high living and 
high thinking, of working for others' good as well as your 
own — it will be joyful, hopeful and blessed. If, on the 
contrary, you regard it merely as affording opportuni- 
ties for self-seeking, pleasure and aggrandizement, it will 
be full of toil, anxiety and disappointment. 

20. The life of each man tells on the whole life of 
society. 

21. The more useful work you do, and the more you 
think and feel, the more you really live. The idle, use- 
less man, no matter to what extent his life may be pro- 
longed, merely vegetates. 

22. Live as long as you may, the first twenty years 
are the longest half of your life, and they are by far the 
most pregnant of consequences. 

23. Life is too short to be worn out in petty wor- 
ries, frettings, hatreds, and vexations. 

24. The average duration of life has been length- 
ened by the increased knowledge and the increased sense 
of responsibility which civilization has developed. 



i86 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 8. Blessings. 

Condition, circumstance, is not the thing-, 
Bliss is the same in subject or in king. — Pope. 

1. God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; 
because that in it He had rested from all His work 
which He created and made. 

2. God's blessings are not for those who do not 
deserve them. The consciousness of a selfish and un- 
generous life will make bitter and burdensome the great- 
est riches, the most buoyant health, and the rarest tal- 
ents that nature bestows. 

3. A blessing is anything that makes you happy, 
comfortable, or contented, particularly when it elevates 
your morals and impresses you with the beauty of a 
pure and upright life. They sometimes come through 
trouble and deprivations, but are no less blessings on 
that account, if they lead to a better and higher life. 

4. Chiefest of blessings is hope, the most common 
of possessions ; for even those who have nothing else 
have hope. 

5. As there are no blessings which may not be per- 
verted into evils, so there are no trials which may not 
be converted into blessings. 

6. Make up your mind never to stand waiting and 
hesitating when your conscience tells you what you 
ought to do, and you have got the key to every blessing 
that you can reasonably hope for. 

7. The blessings of fortune are the lowest; the 
next are the bodily advantages of strength and health ; 
but the superlative blessings are those of the mind. 

8. Every evil you encounter, to which you do not 
succumb, is a blessing. 

9. There is inestimable blessing in a cheerful 
spirit. 

10. Smiles are little things, cheap articles to be 
fraught with so many blessings, both to the giver and 
the receiver. They are the higher and better responses 
of nature to the emotion of the soul. 



i8 7 

11. To enjoy your blessings to the fullest extent 
you must be well and hearty. 

12. Blessed is the hand that prepares a pleasure for 
a child, for there is no saying when and where it may 
bloom forth. 

13. Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, 
and eight hours for what you will, is the best rule ever 
invented to bless mankind, and you should adjust your 
pursuits to it. 

14. The blessings of leisure, retirement and rest, 
are pleasant only by contrast to previous toil and excite- 
ment. 

15. Contact with the good never fails to impart 
good, and you carry away with you some of the bless- 
ing. 

16. It is your duty to be cheerful and enjoy the 
blessings bestowed on you. 

17. No service can be more distinguished than 
doing good, the scattering of blessings among the sons 
of men. 

18. To be full of goodness, full of sympathy, full 
of helpful hope, causes you to carry blessings of which 
you may be unconscious, but fraught with good for your 
associates. 

19. The strong will, allied to right motives, is full 
of blessings. The man thus influenced moves and influ- 
ences the minds and consciences of others. He bends 
them to his views of duty, carries them with him in his 
endeavors to secure worthy objects, and directs opinion 
to the suppression of wrong and the establishment of 
right. 

20. Every joy which comes to you is only to 
strengthen you for some greater labor that is to suc- 
ceed. 

21. There are occasions in life in which a great 
mind lives years of enjoyment in a single moment. 

22. Love is chief of all the virtues that bless the 
world and make it happier. 

23. Every pure and healthy thought, every noble 
and unselfish endeavor, makes the human spirit stronger, 
more harmonious, and more beautiful. 



i88 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 9. Beauty. 

A thing of beauty is a joy forever; 
Its lovelin'ess increases; it will never 
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep 
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep 

Full of sweet dreams and health and quiet breathing. 

— Keats. 

1. Beauty, which is the natural food of a healthy- 
imagination, should be sought after by every one who 
wishes to achieve the great end of existence — that is, to 
make the most of himself. 

2. Beauty is the spiritual essence of all good cre- 
ation. The greater your appreciation of it, the more you 
possess of God-likeness. 

3. In all ranks of life the human heart yearns for 
the beautiful ; and the beautiful things that God makes 
are His gift to all alike. 

4. If you love beauty and look for it, you will see 
it everywhere. 

5. One of the first lessons to learn is not to find 
fault but to perceive beauties. 

6. You should commence with supplying your 
imaginative faculty with its natural food in the shape 
of beautiful objects of every kind. 

7. Though you may travel the world over to find 
the beautiful, you must carry it with you or you find it 
not. 

8. Everything beautiful has a refining influence, 
and without the beautiful the world would scarcely be 
worth living in. 

9. No nature is capable of education to any high 
degree of culture, that has not in it a perception and love 
of the beautiful. 

10. The world is most beautiful, framed by the 
best and most perfect reason, though to you it may be 
unclean and evil, because you are unclean and evil in a 
good world. 

11. The most natural beauty in the world is hon- 
esty and moral truth. 



1 89 

12. Refinement creates beauty everywhere. The 
beautiful refines. 

13. Beauty — in art, in nature, in fiction — is of 
incalculable importance, because it is the index of a 
good mind. 

14. There are certain things you feel to be beautiful 
and good, and you must hunger after them. 

15. Highest and noblest of all, beauty is in the 
human face and the soul that gives it life. 

16. The highest type of beauty is that of the char- 
acter and the moral nature, this is something that all 
may possess, and it is your own fault if such beauty is 
not yours. 

17. The love of beauty is an essential part of all 
healthy human nature. 

18. The element of beauty is needed in your con- 
duct, as elsewhere in human life. 

19. Beauty of mind and character increases in 
attractiveness the older it grows. 

20. It is fervor and industry alone which give the 
beauty and the brightness to human life. 

21. A new layer of character is formed every day, 
and if you see but the artificial, the sordid, the cold, cal- 
culating side of life, if you experience nothing of beauty 
or joy, you must expect your character to correspond. 

22. Without painting, sculpture, music, poetry, 
and the emotions produced by natural beauty of every 
kind, life would lose half its charm. 

23. Every day should add a new layer of beauty 
and joy to life before it gives place to the morrow. It 
was not intended that one part of life should be filled 
with joy and the remainder barren. 

24. If you would grow, would feel your life expand- 
ing, you should never let a day pass without trying to 
see some beautiful thing. 

25. Love of the beautiful has a powerful influence 
on life and character. 

26. With nature each time and season has its spe- 
cial beauty. There is always variety in its scenery ; diver- 
sities of form and color are strewn throughout the 
world. 



190 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 10. Rest. 

Sweet recreation barred, what doth 'ensue 
But moody and dull melancholy, 
Kinsman to grim and comfortl'ess despair, 
And, at her heels, a huge infectious troop 
Of pale distemperatures, and foes to life? 

— Shakespeare. 

1. The love of rational amusement is a virtue, no 
less to be cultivated than the love of innocence and 
truth, with which it stands intimately related. 

2. Every human being needs, and is entitled to 
time for repose, time for recreation, time to exercise his 
mental faculties, time to enjoy his home and his family. 

3. The natural and desired effect of healthful rest 
is to invigorate, to render brain and body better fitted 
for labor ; to give them a renewed appetite and relish for 
labor. 

4. You should turn your every amusement to your 
eternal advantage. 

5. Time spent in innocent and rational enjoyment, 
in social and family intercourse, in healthy games, is 
well and wisely spent. 

6. Pleasure worth the name must be innocent, and 
must come only as a relaxation from work. 

7. People who work the best ought to play the 
best, and those who play the best ought to work the 
best. 

8. Leisure is just as needful to the human economy, 
to the doing of good work, to the rounding of life, as is 
activity. 

9. The luxurious know little of the value of luxury 
because they do not earn it. One who continually rests 
and enjoys, neither rests nor enjoys. Rest implies labor. 

10. The exercise of all the bodily functions within 
proper limits is not only desirable, but it is really a moral 
duty; it is one of the cardinal virtues. 

11. It is vigor of mind which accomplishes results, 
and, in order to keep up a healthy mentality, it is neces- 
sary to give the mind a variety of food and frequent 
intervals of rest. 



191 

12. Aside from the right and the wrong of the 
thing, it is injurious to health to work seven days in the 
week, to work nights when nature intended you to sleep, 
or to sleep days when she intended you to work. 

13. No man ever gets to the point where he can 
dispense with outdoor exercise and fresh air. 

14. True rest, which is a very different thing from 
idleness, is not waste of time by any means. On the 
contrary, as it restores exhausted strength, it is often 
the greatest economy. 

15. It is just as important to the building up of 
character, that a man should have reasonable hours of 
recreation, as it is that he should work. 

16. When men are rightly occupied, their amuse- 
ment grows out of their work. 

17. When the mind is given variety, it turns from 
business to recreation and from recreation to business, 
with equal pleasure and zest. 

18. Rest strengthens labor and labor sweetens rest. 

19. The mind is as much refreshed by variety as 
by idleness. 

20. Next to virtue the fun in the world is what you 
can least spare. 

21. If you are wise you will vary your pleasures, 
and add to them by mixing the grave with the gay. 

22. That regular daily exercise which is most pleas- 
ant to you is that which, of all others, will be the most 
beneficial. 

23. Vacations are necessary, but they are for the 
sake of work and success. 

24. The young are apt to think that rest means a 
cessation from all effort, but the most perfect rest is in 
changing effort. 

25. The spirit with which rest is taken influences 
its value. 

26. Nothing gives more mental and bodily vigor 
than sound rest, when properly applied. 

27. You sleep sound and your waking hours are 
happy, when they are employed; and a little sense of 
toil is necessary to the enjoyment of leisure, even when 
earned by study and sanctioned by the discharge of duty. 



192 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 11. Reaction, 

The tissue of the life to be, 

We weave with colors all our own; 

And in the field of destiny, 

We reap as we have sown. — Whittier. 

1. The mechanical law that action and reaction are 
equal, holds true also in morals. Good deeds act and 
react on the doers of them ; and so do evil. Not only 
so : they produce like effects, by the influence of ex- 
ample, on those who are the subjects of them. 

2. Your pleasant vices make instruments to plague 
you. 

3. Out of your present you are building your fu- 
ture, and as surely as night follows the day, will you 
reap that which you have sown. 

4. Most men are influenced very much by what oth- 
er people think and say concerning them, and it is found 
by experience that many wrongs are righted more effect- 
ually by leaving them to public opinion to settle, than 
by passing laws against them. 

5. If fools and sinners did not suffer for folly and 
sin, the world would soon consist of nothing else. 

6. Kindness begets kindness, and truth and trust 
will bear a rich harvest of truth and trust. 

7. A guilty conscience is its own betrayer, and 
when least expected holds its victim up to mortification 
and shame. 

8. Every small stroke of virtue or vice leaves its 
ever so little scar. Nothing you ever do is, in strict 
literalness, wiped out. 

9. No one ever did a designed injury to another but 
at the same time he did a greater to himself. 

10. Injuries which wilful men procure to themselves 
are their just punishment. 

11. Every act of wrong doing carries its own pun- 
ishment ; it may be a long time coming but it will surely 
come. 

12. Sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit 



193 

and you reap a character ; sow a character and you reap 
a destiny. 

13. If you are idle and shiftless by choice, you shall 
be nerveless and powerless by necessity. 

14. The pains of old age are the pleasures of youth 
grown perfect. 

15. Beware of work that kills the workman. 

16. There is seldom anything uttered in malice, 
which turns not to the hurt of the speaker. 

17. The idols of the heart look through the eyes, 
appear in the manners, and betray their worshipers. 

18. Old age seizes on an ill-spent youth like fire 
on a rotten house. 

19. Be sure your sins will find you out. 

20. You must pay the penalty of your vocations. 

21. The first seminary of moral discipline, and the 
best, is the home ; next comes the school, and after that 
the world, the great school of practical life. Each is 
preparatory to the other, and what the man or woman 
becomes depends for the most part on what has gone 
before. If they have enjoyed the advantages of neither 
the home nor the school, but have been allowed to grow 
up untrained, untaught, and undisciplined, they will be 
of little use to the society of which they form a part. 

22. Right relations, whatever their nature, are al- 
ways mutually beneficial. 

23. Guilt has very quick ears to an accusation. 

24. Nature does nothing before her appointed time, 
and any attempt to hurry her invariably means ultimate 
disaster. She takes note of all transactions, physical, 
mental and moral, and places every item to your credit. 

25. Virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. 

26. If you neglect your spring, your summer will 
be useless and contemptible, your harvest will be chaff, 
and the winter of your old age unrespected and desolate. 

27. Give and it shall be given unto you ; for with 
the same measure that you mete withal it shall be meas- 
ured to you again. 



194 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book X. Part 12. Liberty. 

'Tis liberty alone that gives the flow'r 
Of fleeting' life its lustre and perfume, 
And we are weeds without it. — Cowper. 

i. You are free to use as you like the gifts of 
nature; and this freedom affords the opportunity by 
which your character is formed and displayed. 

2. Unless you are possessed with a knowledge of 
your rights and how to assert them, unless you are ac- 
quainted with the rights of others and how not to en- 
croach on them, you are but poor citizens. 

3. The only freedom that deserves the name is that 
of pursuing your own good in your own way, so long as 
you do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede 
their efforts to obtain it. 

4. To be morally and practically free you must be 
able easily to resist all instinctive and unconscious im- 
pulses. 

5. The possibility of morality depends on the pos- 
sibility of liberty ; for if a man be not a free agent, he is 
not the author of his actions, and has, therefore, no re- 
sponsibility. 

6. The liberty of the individual must be thus far 
limited : he must not make himself a nuisance to other 
people. 

7. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each 
other to live as seems good to themselves, than by com- 
pelling each to live as seems good to the rest. 

8. The rights of society do not conflict with the 
liberty of the individual. The liberty of the individual 
ceases only when the rights of society are invaded. 

9. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the 
individual is sovereign. 

10. The sole end for which mankind are warranted, 
individually or collectively, in interfering with the lib- 
erty of action of any of their number, is self-preservation. 

11. The state has no right to interfere with your 



195 

private thoughts; but as to other matters, as your ac- 
tions, labors, fortunes, and lives, you are bound to sur- 
render to its use, and submit to the opinion of those 
among whom your lot has been cast. 

12. Nothing less is required and nothing more is 
needed, than your own personal freedom and responsi- 
bility, in order to build up personal character. 

13. The wage worker whose livelihood depends 
absolutely on the will of an employer, individual or 
corporate, who can fix the rate and period of his com- 
pensation, and discharge him at pleasure, is not free. 

14. Man becomes circumscribed in his nature and 
influence, just in the proportion that he is deprived of 
any one or more essential ingredients or elements of 
character; and he increases in power, goodness and 
majesty, just in the proportion that he is allowed full 
and free scope to all his legitimate powers. 

15. True liberty allows each individual to do all 
the good he can to himself, without injuring his neigh- 
bor. 

16. Everyone has a right to an opinion and a free 
expression of it, but he has no right to force it upon the 
attention of others. 

17. Honorable discussion and honest criticism 
should never be suppressed. 

18. Safe popular freedom consists in the diffusion 
of liberty, the diffusion of intelligence, the diffusion of 
property and the diffusion of consciousness. 

19. Liberty is not exclusively a question of self- 
government ; it is chiefly a question of freedom in order- 
ing your life according to your taste. 

20. It is the duty of every citizen to study the 
questions of his government until he has mastered them, 
not simply to take for granted what his neighbor says, 
but to think and investigate for himself. 

21. A man who does not know how to learn from 
his mistakes turns the best schoolmaster out of his 
house. 



196 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 1. Education. 

Knowledge is 
Bought only with a weary care, 
And wisdom means a world of pain. 

— Joaquin Miller. 

1. Education does wonders, especially if begun 
«arly. It may alter, in the most marked manner, the 
form and shape of the brain, improve the quality, and 
increase the volume of it, and of course also the mind 
that is within it. 

2. He who desires to acquire an education must 
cultivate habits of sobriety, thoroughness, and applica- 
tion. Education will follow such habits as surely as the 
night follows the day. 

3. The supreme object of education and culture is 
to raise the man to his highest power, to develop him 
along the line of his noblest nature, so that he will be 
not only keen, sagacious and shrewd, but broad-minded, 
evenly and sympathetically balanced, tolerant, sweet, 
and charitable. 

4. A thorough education should mean a physical, 
mental and moral training in the broadest sense. 

5. The office of education is to call forth power 
of every kind, — power of thought, affection, will, and 
outward action ; power to observe, to reason, to judge, 
to contrive ; power to adopt good ends firmly, and to 
pursue them efficiently ; power to govern yourself and to 
influence others ; power to gain and to spread happiness. 

6. You cannot get too much education or be too 
well equipped for your life work. 

7. By increased education you can not only earn 
more, — you can be more truly manly, and can serve your 
family, your city, your country, your generation, more 
efficiently. 

8. Education ought not to cease when you leave 
school ; but if well begun there, will continue through 
life. 

9. A complete and generous education is that which 
fits you to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimous- 



197 

ly, all the offices, both public and private, of peace and 
war. 

10. Education is to unfold and develop, in complete- 
ness, the germ-principle lodged in you by your Creator. 

ii. The largest part of education, whether good or 
evil, is carried on at home, often unconsciously, under 
the daily influence of what transpires there. 

12. Every one has two educations — one which he 
receives from others and one which he gives to himself. 

13. Education consists in creating a capacity for 
learning and an instinct for what is right. 

14. The proper use of education is largely a ques- 
tion of character. 

15. Education should fit men and women for use- 
fulness in life by increasing their individual power of 
production, and by making them good companions for 
themselves and others. 

16. The educated man, whose faculties have all 
been developed, longs to know all things of the universe, 
longs to own something, is restless when idle, and longs 
to act well his part in all the affairs of life. 

17. Training the mind to think, and to discriminate 
between truth and error, is the object of education. 

18. To attain the best results in the field of useful- 
ness, to which you are best adapted by nature, — that is 
the best education. 

19. A liberal education is the result of training in 
youth so that the body is the ready servant of the will, 
and does with pleasure all the work that, as a mechan- 
ism, it is capable of; which makes the intellect a clear, 
cold, logical engine, with all its parts of equal strength, 
and in smooth working order ; that stores the mind with 
a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of 
nature, and of the laws of her operations ; that fills with 
life and fire, but trains the passions to come to heed by 
a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience ; to 
love all beauty, whether of nature or art, to hate all vile- 
ness, and to respect others as yourself. 



198 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 2. Mind and Body. 

Ev'n from the body's purity, the mind 
Receives a secret, sympathetic aid. — Thomson. 

1. Mind and body are so closely and intimately 
connected, that one is incapable of pain or pleasure with- 
out the other. 

2. As a rule a strong will, clear grit, pluck, stamina, 
and power of decision, accompany strong muscles, firm 
nerves, and a vigorous body. 

3. Most of those who have accomplished much in 
the world have been vigorous in body as well as active 
in mind, and have been distinguished for their physical 
strength and vigor. 

4. The character sympathizes with, and uncon- 
sciouly takes on, the nature of the body. 

5. The relationship and sympathy between all the 
powers and faculties of man are such as to forbid that 
one department should suffer without impairing the 
health of the other. 

6. A sound body with an untaught mind is better 
than a diseased body with a learned mind. Far better 
than either of these alternatives is it, if a sound mind 
dwell in a sound body. 

7. Great enterprises are almost invariably placed 
in the hands of the man who is physically, as well as 
mentally, able to bear the brunt of things, to endure 
protracted exertion and strain, and to face a crisis with 
the assurance that he will not go to pieces because of 
bodily weakness. 

8. It is not for you to give up in despair because 
you have been denied large and healthy bodies ; rather 
you should take the physical talents that have been put 
into your hands, and make the very best of them. 

9. Moved by a mental aim, weak men are able to 
undergo a much greater amount of bodily labor than 
men of stronger muscular frames, actuated by no ex- 
citement of mind or vigorous nervous impulse. 

10. Education should not sacrifice physical well- 



199 

being to mental attainments ; it should be harmonious in 
all its component parts, so that the boy or girl shall be- 
come a perfect man or woman. 

n. It is in the physical nature that the moral and 
mental nature lies enshrined, and it is only by acting in 
accordance with the natural laws, that the blessings of 
health of body, and health of mind and morals, can be 
secured. 

12. Every faculty of the mind sympathizes with 
every defect and weakness of the body. 

13. A diseased body may hamper, or thwart, or 
even dethrone, the most brilliant and noble intellect. 

14. Healthy thoughts must come from healthy 
minds, and healthy minds cannot exist apart from 
healthy bodies. 

15. Bodily vigor means activity, enthusiasm, de- 
termination and energy, — it means that the mind has at 
command its best powers, and that all the parts of your 
nature are in a condition to work together joyously and 
harmoniously. 

16. The force of the understanding increases with 
the health of the body; when the body labors under dis- 
ease, the mind is incapacitated for thinking. 

17. All upward aspiration, all noble ambition, all 
hope of great intellectual or spiritual attainments, must 
take into account the condition of the physical body. 

18. You increase your chances of success as you in- 
crease your bodily strength, soundness and capacity. 

19. The mind is by far the greatest factor in main- 
taining the body in a healthy condition. 

20. Exercise taken in routine methods as such, does 
not afford the same benefits as when taken with the com- 
bined mental pleasure of games, sports, and other out- 
door diversions. 

21. Every emotion tends to sculpture the body into 
beauty or into ugliness. 

22. In consequence of the union of the two prin- 
ciples in the human frame, every act that you perform re- 
quires the agency both of body and mind. 

23. The body is but the servant of the mind. 



200 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 3. Common Sense. 

D'eep subtle wits, 
In truth, are master spirits in the world. 
The brave man's courage, and the student's lore, 
Are but as tools his secret ends to work, 
Who hath the skill to use them. — Joanna Baillie. 

1. It is better to pass for a man of plain common 
sense, than to be brilliant or facetious at an expense 
which you cannot well bear for any length of time. 

2. Common sense is not a reasoned quality, but 
rather a quality of the unconscious mind exercised intui- 
tively. 

3. Common sense depends on all-around views — on 
seeing things from a general standpoint, and not being 
wholly absorbed by a single aspect. 

4. A great idea or a great man is never laughed 
down or out. In the end the sceptre of common sense 
prevails. 

5. In the affairs of life or business, it is not intel- 
lect that tells so much as character — not brains so much 
as heart — not genius so much as self-control, patience, 
and discipline, regulated by judgment. Hence there is 
no better possession for the uses of either private or pub- 
lic life, than a fair share of ordinary good sense guided 
by rectitude. 

6. A man is sadly handicapped without a thorough 
schooling; but mere schooling will never give him com- 
mon sense. 

7. It is a great thing to have brains, but it is vastly 
greater to be able to command them. 

8. You can get along very well without genius, but 
you will fare badly without a reasonable share of that 
which is a more useful possession for workaday life, 
mother wit ; and you will be all the better for a real 
knowledge, however limited, of the ordinary laws of 
nature, and especially of those which apply to your own 
business. 

9. In every position in life there is a demand for 
ability and common sense. 



201 

io. A young man should be hard-headed, should 
have common sense, undertake only what he can carry 
out and base his expectations on facts. 

ii. The aim of all intellectual training for the mass 
of the people should be common sense. 

12. Great ability is not necessary to acquire com- 
mon sense, so much as patience, accuracy and watchful- 
ness. 

13. In the pursuit of even the highest branches of 
human inquiry, the commoner qualities are found the 
most useful — such as common sense, attention, applica- 
tion and perseverance. 

14. The world wants men who have not so much 
uncommon sense that they have no common sense ; men 
who can mix brains with their work. 

15. Common sense bows to the inevitable and 
makes use of it. 

16. The triumphs of tact, or common sense, over 
talent and genius, are seen everywhere. 

17. The greatest men have been among the least 
believers in the power of genius. Some have even 
denned genius to be only common sense intensified. 

18. Good, roundabout common sense, has never 
been superseded by the college diploma. 

19. Native character and highest culture become 
rolled into each other with every advancing wave of 
humanity. 

20. It does not matter how much you know or how 
much talent you have ; if you cannot transmute your 
acquirements into practical power, you will be a failure. 

21. Women have more common sense than men. 

22. The fundamental principle of good law is good 
common sense. 

23. Science is nothing more than the refinement of 
common sense, making use of facts already known to 
acquire new facts. 

24. The soul of every man has implanted in it a 
certain aptness or necessity to deduce certain universal 
truths from such observation and experience as are com- 
mon to all mankind. 

25. It is grand to be self-complete ; to hear opinions, 
but to judge and act for yourself. 



202 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 4. Knowledge. 

Knowledge is a food, and needs no less 
Her temp'rance over appetite, to know 
In measure what the mind may well contain; 
Oppresses 'else with surfeit, and turns 
Wisdom to folly. — Milton. 

1. The pyramid of knowledge is made up of little 
grains of information, little observations picked up from 
everywhere. 

2. Knowledge being of permanent importance, the 
acquisition of knowledge forms an indispensable and the 
most important department of human life. 

3. The original and proper sources of knowledge 
are not books, but life, experience, personal thinking, 
feeling, and acting. 

4. The acquisition of knowledge may protect a man 
against the meaner felonies of life ; but not in any degree 
against its selfish vices, unless fortified by sound prin- 
ciples and habits. 

5. You cannot attain the intellectual aims of life 
without assistance, and as you cannot get much knowl- 
edge without the help of others, so you are not justified 
in seeking knowledge for your private pleasure or to 
pique your vanity. The pursuit of knowledge is a public, 
not a private end. 

6. The value of knowledge consists not in its quan- 
tity, but mainly in the good uses to which you can apply 
it. 

7. The mind is many sided and requires a great 
variety of food. 

8. The mind may accumulate large stores of knowl- 
edge without any useful purpose ; but the knowledge 
must be allied to goodness and wisdom, and embodied in 
upright character, else it is naught. 

9. The desire for knowledge, like the thirst for 
riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it. 

10. Knowledge begets a desire for more knowledge, 
and it is a laudable desire, but you should remember that 
you cannot learn everything. 



203 

n. With the single exception of a good conscience, 
no possession can be so valuable as a good stock of infor- 
mation. 

12. Knowledge, and knowledge only, makes men as 
a race improve. 

13. In the first ten years of life, it is not the quan- 
tity of knowledge acquired, but the habit of learning 
well, that is of consequence. 

14. Strive to know everything about something; 
and something about everything. 

15. Gifts of speech can never attain their real 
momentum and power until founded upon a substratum 
of carefully acquired knowledge. 

16. As the world grows in knowledge, practical 
morality grows. 

17. Increase of knowledge is increase of civiliza- 
tion. 

18. Knowledge is the material with which genius 
builds her fabrics. 

19. Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a pos- 
session — a property entirely your own. 

20. You can not have too much knowledge if prop- 
erly digested. 

21. Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary 
retreat and shelter for you in an advanced age ; and if you 
do not plant it while young, it will give you no shade 
when you grow old. 

22. The object of knowledge should be to mature 
wisdom and improve character, to render you better, 
happier, and more useful — more benevolent, more ener- 
getic, and more efficient in the pursuit of every high pur- 
pose in life. 

23. The greatest power that you possess is knowl- 
edge. It is the capital of a person who lacks money, and 
it can never be lost. 

24. A vast amount of knowledge may be gained in 
the course of a very few years, by rightly employing 
those leisure hours which every one has ; and this knowl- 
edge, if of a practical kind, will always insure you the 
means of elevation in the world. 



204 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 5. Wisdom. 

To know 
That which before us lies in daily life, 
Is the prime wisdom. — Milton. 

1. Wisdom is knowledge which has become a part 
of your being; it is the result of close, systematic think- 
ing, taken into the very tissue of the mind itself. 

2. A just knowledge of the maxims you ought to- 
follow in the course of life is the principal object of wis- 
dom ; and virtue consists in putting them constantly in 
practice. 

3. The aim of education is wisdom, the aim of wis- 
dom is truth. 

4. Cheerfulness and diligence are nine-tenths of 
practical wisdom. They are the life and soul of success, 
as well as of happiness. 

5. True wisdom is spontaneous, and not deliberate ; 
for wisdom is from the intuitional of man, and the intui- 
tion always knows, and knows at once. 

6. You learn wisdom from failure much more than 
from success. 

7. Good sense, disciplined by experience and inspir- 
ed by goodness, issues in practical wisdom. Indeed, 
goodness in a measure implies wisdom — the union of the 
worldly with the spiritual. 

8. Practical wisdom, for the purposes of life, must 
be carried about with you, and be ready for use at call. 

9. It may serve as a comfort in all your calamities, 
to know that he who loses anything and gets wisdom by 
it, is a gainer by the loss. 

10. The truly wise are always growing wiser; it is 
the fool alone who remains standing. 

n. The wisest man may be wiser today than he 
was yesterday, and tomorrow than he is today. Total 
freedom from change would imply total freedom from 
error ; but this is the prerogative of Omniscience alone. 

12. Mistakes are lessons in wisdom. The past 
cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. 



205 

13. You should never be ashamed to own that you 
have been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other 
words, that you are wiser today than you were yesterday. 

14. Wisdom and virtue are very often convertible 
terms, and they invariably assist and strengthen each 
other. 

15. Truly wise you cannot be, unless your wisdom 
is constantly developing, from childhood to death. 

16. Wisdom is the only thing that can relieve you 
from the sway of the passions and the fear of danger, and 
which can teach you to bear the injuries of fortune itself 
with moderation, and which shows you all the ways 
which lead to tranquility and peace. 

17. The experience gained from books, though often 
valuable, is but of the nature of learning; whereas the 
experience gained from actual life, is of the nature of 
wisdom ; and a small store of the latter is worth vastly 
more than any stock of the former. 

18. Your immense capacity for receiving and retain- 
ing impressions gives you that world stock of stored 
information and its arrested stimulus called knowledge. 
But wisdom, the higher word, refers to your capacity for 
considering what you know — handling and balancing the 
information in stock, and so acting judiciously from the 
best impression or group of impressions, instead of indis- 
criminately from the latest or from any that happens to 
be uppermost. 

19. Wisdom is never attained by mere reason. 
The ideas of reason are clear, those of wisdom often 
obscure and unconscious. 

20. The merchandise of wisdom is better than the 
merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine 
gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the 
things you can desire are not to be compared unto her. 
Length of days is in her right hand ; and in her left hand 
riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 
and all her paths are peace. She is the tree of life to 
them that lay hold upon her : and happy is every one 
\hat retaineth her. 



206 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 6. Experience. 

Experience is by industry achieved, 

And perfected by the swift course of time. 

— Shakespeare. 

1. Take care to profit by your own experience — 
especially by your blunders and mistakes. These are the 
most expensive teachers, but the best of all. Still better 
to learn wisdom from the failure of other men. 

2. The whole of life may be regarded as a great 
school of experience, in which men and women are the 
pupils. 

3. Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the 
school of experience. 

4. Experience is often bitter but wholesome ; only 
by its teaching can you learn to suffer and be strong. 

5. The man made wise by experience endeavors to 
judge correctly of the things which come under his obser- 
vation, and form the subject of his daily life. 

6. The man of experience learns to rely on time 
as his helper. 

7. Get experience every time an opportunity pre- 
sents itself. 

8. The results of experience are, of course, only to 
be achieved by living; and living is a question of time. 

9. You know only too well what you can do; but 
until you have learned what you cannot do, you will 
neither accomplish anything of moment nor know inward 
peace. 

10. The experience of the past is history; that of 
the present, observation. Both are requisite to under- 
stand either. 

11. The man of noble spirit converts all occurren- 
ces into experience. 

12. The aid you have from others is mechanical, 
compared with the discoveries you make yourself. 
What is thus learned is delightful in the doing, and the 
effect remains. 



207 

13. The broader the range of your digested experi- 
ence, the sounder will be your judgment. 

14. You ought not to look back unless it is to derive 
useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of 
profiting by dear-bought experience. 

15. Experience is hands and feet to every enter- 
prise. 

16. Association with persons wiser, better and more 
experienced than yourself, is always more or less inspir- 
ing and invigorating. They enhance your knowledge of 
life. You not only learn what they have enjoyed, but — 
which is still more instructive — what they have suffered. 

17. Good thoughts and carefully gathered experi- 
ence take up no room, and may be carried about as your 
companions everywhere, without cost or encumbrance. 

18. Your knowledge cannot go beyond your experi- 
ence. 

19. Any one who would profit by experience will 
never be above asking for help. 

20. The oft repeated experience of trustworthy per- 
sons may be taken for knowledge. 

21. Nature is frugal in her operations, and will not 
be at the expense of a particular instinct, to give you that 
knowledge which experience will soon produce, by means 
of a general principle of human nature. 

22. Useful and' instructive though good reading 
may be, it is only one mode of cultivating the mind ; and 
is much less influential than practical experience and 
good example. 

23. Things which you learn by practicing and 
understanding are open to further knowledge and 
growth. 

24. It is one of the sad conditions of life, that expe- 
rience is not transmissible. 

25. It is always safe to learn, even from your ene- 
mies. 

26. Do not look for judgment and experience in 
youth. 

2J. It is the great lesson of biography to teach what 
man can be and can do at his best. It may thus give you 
renewed strength and confidence. 



208 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 7. Genius. 

Time, place, and action may with pains be wrought, 
But genius must be born; and never can be taught. 

— Dry den. 

1. To resolutely aim high, to never lose sight of 
your purpose, or abate your struggles to attain it, to 
make the best of the stuff that is in you, irrespective of 
what others are doing or have done, is the nearest ap- 
proach to genius you can ever make, and this kind of 
doing has wrought, with very few exceptions, all the 
things which are known as works of genius. 

2. Genius is but a capacity of laboring intensely; 
it is the power of making g r eat and sustained efforts. 

3. Genius is character, although character is not 
always genius. 

4. A genius is successful in spite ol poverty. He 
seldom succeeds from the world's point of view, because, 
as a rule, he lacks selfishness. He adds much to the sum 
of human happiness. 

5. The secret of genius is patience. 

6. Genius is but the superlative degree of intell- 
gence, and may be acquired, and must be nourished by 
abundant food, exercise and careful training. 

7. The surest sign of genius that can accomplish 
things, that can bring things to pass, is a divine hunger 
for achievement, a longing to be somebody and do some- 
thing in the world. 

8. A genius never thinks ?bout his powers. 

9. Genius may be distinguished from the lesser 
endowments by its ability to make the most of what 
common minds deem the merest surface drift of oppor- 
tunity, too ordinary and plentiful to be of any value. 

10. When education has prepared your brains and 
hands, then it is that genius does those things which the 
world will not willingly let die ; but it is the spontaneous- 
ness of a second and disciplined nature. 

it. A boy who does not have a thirst for knowl- 
edge, a hunger for achievement, a determination to get 



209 

on in the world, and a willingness to do drudgery, may 
be sure that, whatever else he has, he does not have 
genius. 

12. Talent, lying in the understanding, is often 
inherited ; genius, being the action of reason and imag- 
ination rarely or never. 

13. The longing for something higher, the hidden 
germ oi aspiration struggling for the light — this is the 
kind of genius which youth should cultivate. 

14. Genius has been well defined as the infinite 
capacity for taking pains. 

15. Genius chooses its channel of expression with 
no desire for wealth, or fame, or happiness ; but because 
it cannot do otherwise. 

16. Genius is known by its works ; genius without 
works is a blind faith, a dumb oracle. 

17. A man is a miracle of genius because he has 
been a miracle of labor. 

18. The light of other minds is necessary to the 
play and development of genius. 

19. Even genius, however rapid its flight, must not 
omit a single essential detail, and must be willing to 
work. 

20. Genius is the infinite art of taking pains. 

21. Genius is intensity. 

22. Liberty is alone fitted to bring out the noble 
thoughts of genius, filling them with hopes of success. 

23. Genius is a power of producing excellences 
which are outside of the rules of art, a power which 
no prospect can touch and no industry acquire. 

24. It is not wise to aim at impossibilities, though 
genius frequently accomplishes what some people term 
impossibilities. There is a distinction, however, between 
them, which the man of genius recognizes. If you recog- 
nize good in a seeming impossibility, and have faith in 
your power to accomplsh it, you will be the genius if you 
succeed. 

25. The study of almost any great work, either in 
literature, art or science, will soon convince you that 
downright hard work is the only substitute for genius. 



2IO 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 8. Nature. 

How mean the ord'er and perfection sought 
In the best product of the human thought, 
Compared to the gr'eat harmony that reigns 
In what the spirit of the world ordains. — Prior. 

1. Nature is inviting you to talk earnestly with 
her, to understand her, to subdue her, and to be blessed 
by her. 

2. In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful. 

3. Man loves nature. 

4. The most important secrets of nature are often 
hidden away in unexpected places. 

5. The love of nature is a great gift, and if it is 
frozen or crushed out, the character can hardly fail to 
suffer from the loss. 

6. Work or starve is nature's motto, — starve men- 
tally, starve morally, starve physically. 

7. Nature only gives you the raw material. You 
must take from her the things that lie useless, and make 
them minister to life. 

8. Nature never lets a man rest until he has found 
his place. She haunts him and drives him until all his 
faculties give their consent, and he falls into his proper 
niche. 

9. Nature does not excuse man for weakness, 
incompetence, or ignorance. She demands that he be at 
the top of his condition. 

10. Nature teems with elements and forces to wait 
on man's every thought, to gratify his every desire, and 
to respond to his every aspiration. With all her wealth 
she surrounds him, and in ten thousand ways invites him 
to use it. 

11. Man adapts himself to nature, not nature to 
man. 

12. There is no trifling with nature; it is always 
true, and the faults and errors fall to your share. It 
defies incompetency, but reveals its secrets to the com- 
petent, the truthful, and the poor. 



211 

13. Nature constantly seeks to lead men to a keener 
and deeper realization of the power and wonder of the 
invisible. 

14. Nature is the wisest of physicians, kindest of 
nurses, and cheapest of medicines. 

15. Nature has no message for heedless, inattentive 
hearers. 

16. Nature is constantly seeking to show man that 
he is his own best friend, or his own worst enemy. 

17. If you hope to be a power in the world, to be 
able to bring things to pass, you must not only keep 
close to nature's heart, but you must keep in touch with 
the great forces of civilization. You must know nature 
and human nature at first hand. 

18. The best part of your education comes from 
nature. 

19. Man is but an apprentice in the workshop of 
nature. He creates nothing, but merely adapts what 
nature has already made. All his boasted achievements 
are but the imitations of nature. 

20. Nature is able to supply all your wants without 
undue toil if you rightly know her laws and wisely util- 
ize her forces. 

21. Strong men who have accomplished things, 
have drawn their strength from nature and life. They 
have not only lived and communed much with nature, but 
they have mingled with men. 

22. Nature has recourse to a two-fold agency. To 
one man she assigns the task of originating the new 
thought ; to another, that of imparting to it a fitting shape 
and adapting it to the uses of mankind. 

23. Nature in her kindness does not usually make 
one man the recipient of all her gifts. 

24. All of nature's works are a part of the perfec- 
tion of a plan. She makes no mistakes, creates no 
vacancy, and guesses at nothing. 

25. One law covers all men. Nature is very gener- 
ous with her gifts, but she insists that you appreciate 
them. 

26. Nature never stops still. She either advances 
or retires, and humanity moves with her. 



212 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 9. Improvement. 

The world advances, and in time outgrows 
The laws that in our fathers' days were best; 
And doubtless after us, some purer scheme 
Will be shaped out by wiser men than we, 
Made wiser by the steady growth of truth. — Lowell. 

1. Much mental improvement in later life is the 
substitution of a better class of judgments for first imma- 
ture notions, these last being gradually dropped. 

2. Alike in civil and religious affairs, youth has to 
play the great part in securing progress. 

3. A mind that would grow must let no ideas 
become permanent, except such as lead to action. To- 
ward all others, it must maintain an attitude of absolute 
receptivity: admitting all, being modified by all, but per- 
manently biased by none. 

4. A man who expects great things of himself is 
constantly trying to open a little wider the doors of his 
narrow life, to extend his limited knowledge, to reach a 
little higher, to get a little farther on than those around 
him. He has enough of the divine disposition within 
him to spur him on to nobler endeavors. He looks to 
get the best of the things offered to him. 

5. Morality as a whole almost necessarily advances 
with the general progress of intelligence. 

6. You cannot progress while keeping a close watch 
on your past. Do not be afraid to outgrow old thoughts 
and ways of living. Be courageous and dare to think on 
new lines, and as a result, live in new ways. 

7. You are equally served by receiving and impart- 
ing knowledge. 

8. Do not be content with doing what another has 
done — surpass it. 

9. You should not hesitate to change your condi- 
tion, if you are pretty sure you see a way to better it. 
The object of life is to grow. 

10. There is protection as well as education in a 
fervent love of improvement, with its multitude of asso- 
ciations. 



213 

ii. Whoever is satisfied with what he does, has 
reached his culminating point — he will progress no more. 

12. It is only through strife, through labor and 
painful effort, by grim energy and by resolute courage, 
that you move on to better things. 

13. There is a universal desire for the acquisition 
of new intelligence for the purposes of advancement. 

14. You have to keep your mind and heart open, 
and never be ashamed to learn, with the assistance of 
those who are wiser and more experienced than your- 
self. 

15. Every generation climbs a little higher than its 
predecessor. 

16. You must continuously apply yourself to right 
pursuits, and you cannot fail to advance steadily, though 
it may be unconsciously. 

17. True progress consists in bringing forward 
from yesterday the good of yesterday, and adding it to 
the store of the good of today. 

18. Progress is not movement, but improvement. 
Its measure is not the ground passed over, but what has 
been gained in passing. 

19. The powers of man have not been exhausted. 
Nothing has been done by him that cannot be better 
done. 

20. Sometimes progress invites men, sometimes it 
drives them, but always it advances them. 

21. To develop your threefold nature, moral, intel- 
lectual, and physical, to its highest possibility, should be 
the supreme object of living. 

22. Ever since men existed as reasonable creatures, 
they have discriminated good from evil, making use of 
what has been done in this direction before them by oth- 
ers, struggled with evil, seeking a true and better way, 
and slowly but unceasingly have been advancing. 

23. Your mind is developed successfully in pursu- 
ing subjects that give you knowledge of practical worth. 

24. It is quite possible for conventional rules of 
action and conventional habits of thought to get such 
power that progress is impossible. 

25. Work out in your mind better and brighter 
duties and responsibilities for yourself. 



214 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 10. History. 

Wondrous and awful are thy silent halls, 
O kingdom of the past! 
There lie the bygone ages in their palls, 
Guarded by shadows vast. — Lowell. 

i. History makes a young man old without either 
wrinkles or gray hair, privileging him with the expe- 
rience of age without either its infirmities or inconven- 
iences. 

2. History sets before the mind examples of hero- 
ism, of self-sacrifice, of love of country, of devotion to 
principles at the greatest cost. How can such examples 
fail to inspire, to ennoble, to awaken emulation? The 
great and good men of the past, the virtuous and wise, 
serve as models to the young, and often arouse enthu- 
siastic admiration, and a passionate discipleship. 

3. Great example becomes the common heritage of 
the race ; and great deeds and great thoughts are the most 
glorious of legacies to mankind. They connect the pres- 
ent with the past and help on the increasing purpose of 
the future ; holding aloft the standard of principle, main- 
taining the dignity of human character, and filling the 
mind with traditions and instincts of all that is most 
worthy and noble in life. 

4. The first lesson of history is the good that comes 
out of evil. 

5. The example of other days is in great part the 
source of the courage of each generation ; and men walk 
up composedly to the most perilous enterprises beckon- 
ed onward by the shades of the men who live in history, 

6. To exercise the imagination on the lives of great 
and good men brings with it a double gain ; for by this 
exercise you learn at a single stroke, and in the most ef- 
fective way, both what was done and what ought to be 
done. 

7. History and biography show many wonderful 
instances of the immunity accorded to men of character. 
A strange talisman seemed to surround them. 



215 

8. Those who will read and heed the lessons of 
other lives will be able to live very nearly a correct life 
at the first and only trial vouchsafed each mortal. 

9. History is a picture of the life in the past, of 
the whole human race, through which you can trace the 
gradual trend of humanity, ever upward towards a high- 
er ideal. 

10. It is scarcely possible to have a thorough 
knowledge of your fellowmen, without the information 
concerning them to be obtained from the annals of his- 
tory. 

11. With the light of great examples to guide you — 
representatives of humanity in its best form — you are 
not only justified, but bound in duty, to aim at reaching 
the highest standard of character; not to become the 
richest in means, but in spirit ; not the greatest in world- 
ly position, but in true honor ; not the most intellect- 
ual, but the most virtuous ; not the most powerful and 
influential, but the most upright, truthful, and honest. 

12. What men have accomplished shows that hardly 
any ambitious longing can be considered as unwise on 
the part of those who are willing to undertake all work 
and suffer want, in the struggle. 

13. Study to make yourself familiar, not with the 
foibles, oddities, and monstrocities of humanity, set 
forth in fictitious narratives, but with the real blood and 
bone of human heroism, which the select pages of biog- 
raphy present. 

14. The recollection of men who have signalized 
themselves by great thoughts or great deeds, seems to 
create for the time a purer atmosphere around you, and 
you feel as if your aims and purposes were unconsciously 
elevated. 

15. How wise, how philosophic, to measure and 
judge yourself according to the history of others, and 
avoid those errors of omission and commission, that 
have ruined so many lives. 

16. History is full of examples of men who have 
left their mark on the world, but who made an utter 
failure of what they first started out to do. 



2l6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 11. Necessity. 

Soul of the world, divine Necessity, 
Servant of God, and master of all things. 

— Batt'ey. 

1. That man is wise, and has understanding of 
things divine, who has nobly agreed with necessity. 

2. It is certain that some of those who stand high- 
est in the world's repute, would have done nothing to 
make their names remembered, but for circumstances 
which either aided their efforts or compelled them to 
exertion ; and many who have been by no means cele- 
brated, have required but favoring opportunities, or the 
spur of adverse circumstances, to have achieved distinc- 
tion. 

3. Responsibility alone drives man to toil and 
brings out his best gifts. 

4. Nature cares little for man's ease and pleasure ; 
it is the man she is after, and she will pay any price or 
resort to any expedient to lure him on. She masks her 
own ends in his wants, and urges him onward, often- 
times through difficulties and obstacles which are dis- 
heartening, but ever onward and upward, toward the 
goal. 

5. It was not without significance that the Creator 
concealed your highest happiness and greatest good be- 
neath the sternest difficulties, and made their attainment 
conditional upon a struggle for existence. 

6. Being forced to work and forced to do your best, 
will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence 
and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hun- 
dred virtues which the idle never know. 

7. The hard facts of existence have to be faced, to 
give that touch of truth to character which can never 
be imparted by reading or tuition, but only by contact 
with the broad instincts of common men and women. 

8. Necessity may render a doubtful act innocent, 
but it cannot make it praiseworthy. 

9. Your wits are sharpened by your necessity, and 



217 

the individual stands forth to meet and overcome the 
difficulties which stand in his way. 

10. Necessity never compels you to do what is 
wrong, and if you resist the impulse to resort to crooked 
measures, when tempted either by the threats of misfor- 
tune or the avarice of ambition, you will find that it is 
a friend and a helper which leads you through avenues 
of trial and temptation, into mansions of knowledge and 
affluence. 

n. Necessity for exertion is the chief source of 
human advancement. 

12. Necessity may be a hard school-mistress, but 
she is generally found the best. 

13. Nobody knows what he can do until he has 
tried ; and few try their best until they have been forced 
to do it. 

14. Necessity has goaded men to nearly all the 
great achievements in the history of the world. 

15. It is often of advantage for a man to be under 
the necessity of having to struggle with poverty and 
conquer it. 

16. Most men need a spur to make them begin and 
hold them to their task. 

17. The greater number of men have to work with 
their hands, as a matter of necessity, in order to live ; but 
all must work in one way or another, if they would en- 
joy life as it ought to be enjoyed. 

18. It is difficult, if it is even possible, for any 
human being to develop his highest faculties, to raise 
himself to his highest power, until he is thrown absolute- 
ly on his own resources. 

19. Poverty and hardship have ever been the great 
schoolmasters of the race, and have forced into prom- 
inence many a man who would otherwise have remained 
unknown. 

20. Since the world has existed, men, with great 
efforts, sufferings and privations, have been struggling 
for their common wants, and have not been able to over- 
come the difficulty. 

21. Take away from a young man the necessity 
for earning his own living, and you make a characterless 
manikin of him. 



218 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XI. Part 12. Influence. 

W : e know not half the power, for good or ill, 
Our daily lives poss'ess o'er one another; 

A careless word may help a soul to kill, 

Or by one look we may redeem our brother. 

— Anon. 

1. Man's conscious influence is small. But his un- 
conscious influence, — the silent, subtle radiation of his 
personality, the effect of his words and acts, the trifles 
he never considers, — is tremendous. 

2. Influence is the power you exert over others by 
your thoughts, words, and actions — by your lives. It 
is a silent, a pervading, a magnetic, and a most wonder- 
ful thing. It works in inexplicable ways. You neither 
see nor hear it, yet, consciously or unconsciously, you 
exert it. 

3. Into the hands of every individual is given a 
marvelous power for good or evil, — the silent, uncon- 
scious, unseen influence of his life. This is simply the 
constant radiation of what a man really is, not what he 
pretends to be. 

4. Every man, by his mere living, is radiating sym- 
pathy, or sorrow, or morbidness, or cynicism, or happi- 
ness, or hope, or any of a hundred other qualities. Life 
is a state of constant radiation and absorption ; to exist 
is to radiate ; to exist is to be the recipient of radiations. 

5. Something passes from every sentient thing, — 
which affects, for good or ill, for pleasure or pain, or 
perhaps indifferently, everyone who comes within the 
atmosphere of that being. 

6. You should ever let your influence filter through 
human love and sympathy. You should not be merely 
an influence, you should be an inspiration. By your very 
presence you should be a source of strength to those 
around you. 

7. You cannot escape for one moment from the 
radiation of your character, the constant weakening or 
strengthening of others. You can cultivate sweetness, 



219 

calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobil- 
ity, — make them vitally active in your character — and 
by these qualities you will constantly affect the world. 

8. There is something solemn and awful in the 
thought that there is not an act done or a word uttered 
by a human being but carries with it a train of conse- 
quences, the end of which you may never trace. Not 
one but, to a certain extent, gives a color to your life, 
and insensibly influences the lives of those about you. 

9. You may surrender your own life to be driven 
hither and thither by pleasure's currents and passion's 
gusts. But the loss will not be yours alone. Your 
course will wantonly imperil hundreds of other lives, 
that may be making heroic struggles for better things. 

10. The influence of character can never be over- 
estimated. You are moulding others wherever you are. 
Character keeps itself at all times before men's atten- 
tion, and its might is felt by everyone who comes with- 
in its sphere. 

11. The good and the great draw others after them ; 
they lighten and lift up all who are within reach of their 
influence. They are as so many living centres of benefi- 
cent activity. 

12. Numberless occasions will occur, in the life of 
an educated man, in which he can not only enhance his 
own wealth and happiness, but can contribute largely 
to the enjoyment of his fellows. 

13. In your daily intercourse with the world, you 
meet scores of people by whose silent influence for evil, 
you are unconsciously drawn down to their own level. 
You may also meet a single individual in whose presence 
you feel the thrill of a moulding influence for good. 

14. It is impossible for you to do anything serious- 
ly or permanently hurtful to yourself, without mischief 
reaching at least to your near connections, and often far 
beyond them. 



220 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 1. Self-Culture. 

If solid happiness we prize, 

Within our breast this jewel lies, 

And they are fools who roam; 

The world hath nothing to bestow — 

From our own selves our bliss must flow. 

■ — Cotton. 

i. He who seizes the grand idea of self-cultivation,. 
and solemnly resolves on it, will find that idea, that reso- 
lution, burning like fire within him, and ever putting him 
on his own improvement. 

2. The young man who appplies himself to self- 
culture is bound in time to find a place where he will 
be able to use every power he possesses. 

3. Be your own schoolmaster. Put yourself under 
special training, and perform your duty, your appointed 
task, faithfully, — as well as it can be done. 

4. The opportunity for educating yourself, with- 
out interference with the work necessary to earn a liv- 
ing, should not be overlooked by anyone who really de- 
sires to improve his position and his prospects. 

5. Self-culture may not end in eminence, but with- 
out it eminence can hardly be attained. 

6. To regard self-culture either as a means of get- 
ting past others in the world, or of intellectual dissipa- 
tion and amusement, rather than as a power to elevate 
the character and expand the spiritual nature, is to place 
it on a very low level. 

7. Much may be accomplished in self-culture by 
the energetic and the persevering, who are careful to 
avail themselves of opportunities, and use up the frag- 
ments of spare time which the idle permit to run to 
waste. 

8. Instructors may assist the student over the 
rough places, but he must himself store his mind with 
the necessary knowledge, he must undergo the exer- 
cise by which alone his mind will become active and de- 
pendable, he must himself make the sustained effort 
whose reward is mental strength. 



221 

9. Self-culture calls forth power and cultivates 
strength. The solution of one problem helps the mas- 
tery of another ; and thus knowledge is carried into every 
faculty. 

10. The love of emulation, so hurtful in the cheap, 
false forms it often takes, is a beautiful force when turn- 
ed to self-improvement. 

11. Self-education is something very different from 
mere reading by way of amusement ; it requires long and 
laborious study. 

12. There is no excuse for the man or woman who 
fails to secure an education sufficient to enable him or 
her to perform all duties intelligently. 

13. In childhood your character is largely made for 
you by your parents, teachers, and companions, but in 
after life the only way to make any effective addition to 
your mental ways, lies in deliberately and persistently 
doing it of your own accord. 

14. The struggle to obtain knowledge and to ad- 
vance yourself in the world, strengthens the mind, discip- 
lines the faculties, matures the judgment, promotes self- 
reliance, and gives you independence of thought and force 
of character. 

15. No boy or girl is so deficient in mental power 
or acuteness, as to render the task of self-improvement 
hopeless. 

16. Every man must educate himself. His books 
and teachers are but helps ; the work is his. 

17. It is the duty of every person to cultivate the 
brain power that nature has given him. 

18. The best part of every man's education is that 
which he gives to himself. All learning is self-teaching. 

19. Though self-culture may not bring wealth, it 
will, at all events, give you the companionship of elevated 
thoughts. 

20. True education is self-preparation. It must find 
something within you, or it brings nothing out of you. 
It converts your possibilities into practical powers. 

21. What the learner discovers by mental exertion 
is better known than what is told him. 



222 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 2. Example. 

Examples preach to th' eye — care, then, . mine says, 
Not how you end, but how you spend your days. 

— Henry Martin. 

1. Example is one of the most potent of instructors, 
though it teaches without a tongue. It is the practical 
school of mankind, working by action, which is always 
more forcible than words. 

2. Example in conduct, even in apparently trivial 
matters, is of no light moment, inasmuch as it is con- 
stantly becoming inwoven with the lives of others, and 
contributing to form their natures for better or for 
worse. 

3. Nothing is so infectious as example. 

4. Great men may learn something from the very 
humblest. 

5. Study of the careers of successful men is always 
most interesting, if not always profitable. 

6. Self-government is the principal end of educa- 
tion. It is not imparted by teaching, but by example. 

7. The things done in the home give bias to char- 
acter far more than do sermons and lectures, newspapers 
and books. 

8. The chief use of biography consists in the noble 
models of character in which it abounds. 

9. It is the influence of your acts, more than your 
words, that moulds and shapes others. 

10. The good deed or word will live, even though 
you may not see it fructify, but so will the bad; and no 
person is so insignificant as to be sure that his example 
will not do good on the one hand, or evil on the other. 

11. It is more important to have a good example 
to follow, than to receive words of advice and instruc- 
tion. 

12. Good advice has its weight; but without the 
accompaniment of a good example, it is of comparatively 
small influence. 



223 

13. If in doubt at any time as to what is proper, 
follow the example of others of more experience. 

14. Good example nearly always brings forth good 
fruit. 

15. Noble examples stir to noble actions. 

16. Example is instruction in action. It is teaching 
without words, often exemplifying more than tongue 
can teach. 

17. Precept may point the way, but it is silent, con- 
tinuous example, conveyed to you by habits, and living 
with you in fact, that carries you along. 

18. True religion, embodied in human character 
and action, is more instructive than a thousand doctrinal 
volumes. 

19. Your great forefathers still live among you in 
the records of their lives, as well as in the acts they have 
done, which live also; still sit by you at the table, and 
hold you by the hand ; furnishing examples for your ben- 
efit which you may study, admire and imitate. 

20. One of the most valuable, and one of the most 
infectious examples which can be set before the young, 
is that of cheerful working. 

21. A single virtuous action has elevated a whole 
village, a whole city, a whole nation. 

22. The most powerful forces in nature are those 
which operate silently and imperceptibly. This is equally 
true of those moral forces which exert the greatest in- 
fluences on your mind, and give complexion to your 
character. 

23. Models are of great importance in moulding 
the nature of the child ; and if you would have fine char- 
acters, you must necessarily present before them fine 
models. 

24. Wherein you reprove another, be unblamable 
yourself, for example is more prevalent than precept. 

25. Imperceptibly influence others by giving them 
an example of the gentleness and purity, the politeness 
and tenderness you wish them to emulate. 



224 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 3. Imitation. 

O! who shall lightly say that Fame 

Is nothing but an empty name. 

While in that sound there is a charm 

The nerves to brace, the heart to warm, 

As, thinking of the mighty dead, 

The young from slothful couch shall start, 

And vow, with lifted hands outspread, 
Like them to act a noble part. — Joanna Baillie. 
i. It is by imitation far more than by precept, that 
you learn everything; and what you learn thus, you ac- 
quire not only more effectually, but more pleasantly. 

2. Men are by nature imitators, and all persons 
are more or less impressed by the speech, the manners, 
the gait, the gestures, and the very habit of thinking of 
their companions. 

3. Though much of the education of character by 
example is soontaneous and unconscious, the young need 
not necessarily be the passive followers or imitators of 
those about them. Their own conduct, far more than 
the conduct of their companions, tends to fix the pur- 
pose and form the principles of their lives. 

4. Each possesses in himself a power of will and 
of free activity, which, if courageously exercised, will 
enable him to make his own individual selection of 
friends and associates. It is only through weakness of 
purpose that young people, as well as old, become the 
slaves of their inclinations, or give themselves up to a 
servile imitation of others. 

5. You imitate only what you admire and believe. 

6. For successful imitation in anything good sense 
is indispensable. 

7. The spirit which gets its code of conduct from 
what everybody does is most pernicious, and opposed 
to all true nobility and growth. 

8. Half the evils that curse young womanhood and 
manhood are the consequences of doing as the crowd 
does. 

9. Warriors, statesmen, orators, patriots, poets, and 



225 

artists — all have been, more or less unconsciously, nur- 
tured by the lives and actions of others living before 
them, or presented for their imitation. 

10. Everyone does you a service — gives you some- 
thing to imitate or avoid. 

ii. Any man can do what any other man has done. 

12. Imitation is one of the strongest links of so- 
ciety; is a species of mutual compliance, which all men 
yield to each other, without constraint to themselves, 
and which is extremely flattering to all. 

13. It is vastly more easy to imitate and borrow, 
both matter and manner, than to have them of your own. 
But no imitator ever reached anything like eminence. 

14. Success is often achieved by tracing the foot- 
steps of those who have become successful. 

15. What the superior man seeks is in himself; 
what the small man seeks is in others 

16. It is a mistake to be forever copying copies. 

17. Young people should conduct themselves with 
modest assurance ; let them observe, hear, and examine, 
and before long they will rival their models. 

18. The true way to excel in any effort, is to pro- 
pose the highest and most perfect example for imitation. 

19. By imitation of acts, the character becomes 
slowly and imperceptibly, but at length decidedly form- 
ed. The several acts may seem in themselves trivial ; 
but so are the continuous acts of daily life. 

20. If young men are wisely influenced and direct- 
ed, and conscientiously exert their own free energies, 
they will seek the society of those better than them- 
selves, and strive to imitate their example. 

21. To be like the best men is to command admira- 
tion and love. 

22. The man who only carries out the thoughts 
and ideas of another is nothing more than a tool. 

23. A sure mark of a little mind is the servile imi- 
tation of others. 

24. There are few persons who can avoid imitat- 
ing those with whom they associate. For the most part 
this is unconscious, but its influence is permanent. 



22.6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 4. Observation. 

The works of God are fair for naught, 

Unless our eyes, in seeing, 
See, hidden in the thing, the thought 

That animates its being. — Tilton 

i. Observation is a matter of education. It re- 
quires to see things as well as it does to do things. 

2. Commence study as much as possible, by direct 
observation of facts, and not by the mere inculcation of 
statements from books. 

3. One of the greatest hindrances to advancement 
in life is the lack of observation, and of the inclination 
to take pains. 

4. Higher education is an eye-opener, or rather an 
eye-multiplier, for the educated man is all eyes, and he 
sees and uses what is hidden from others. 

5. More lies in the careful noting of every single 
act than careless minds can well imagine. 

6. You must not allow anything which has any 
relation to your business or profession to escape your 
observation. 

7. It is not always the original man who is most 
successful, but the one who is able to cull the best ideas 
from everyone with whom he comes in contact. 

8. The act of seizing every bit of knowledge, every 
scrap of information, no matter how insignificant it may 
seem at the time, the laying hold of every opportunity 
and every occasion, and grinding them all up into ex- 
perience, cannot be overestimated. 

9. By training the observing faculty you accom- 
plish wonders in the way of education. 

10. Mediocrity can talk, but it takes genius to ob- 
serve. 

11. No matter what your business, you should put 
your best thought into it. To do this you must observe 
keenly, train your eyes to take in everything about you, 
and your mind to reflect on it. 

12. Let those studies be regarded as primary, that 



22"] 

teach you to know what you are seeing, and to see what 
you would otherwise fail to see. 

13. If you would get the most out of life you must 
learn not merely to look but to see. 

14. You want to have your eyes open and your 
wits awake, to be sharp, and ready, and active. 

15. The youth who is always on the alert for a 
chance, who is looking for an opportunity to step up 
higher, whose whole soul is in his work, cannot remain 
unnoticed very long. 

16. Every man who observes vigilantly and resolves 
steadfastly, grows unconsciously into genius. 

17. A close observer can learn from the mistakes 
of the unwise, as well as the correctness of the wise. 

18. In mixed company, among acquaintances and 
strangers, endeavor to learn something from all. 

19. No one who has the opportunity should omit 
to travel. The world belongs to him who has seen it. 

20. Your interest in things about you invariably 
increases in direct ratio with your knowledge of them. 

21. Many of the world's greatest men did not study 
under teachers, but procured their education under the 
supervision of their own minds. They had to feel their 
way along, and correct their own errors as the dawning 
of fresh light enabled them to see them, and you may do 
the same. 

22. The one serviceable, safe, remunerative quality 
in every study and pursuit is the quality of attention. 

23. Open eyes will discover opportunities every- 
where. 

24. There is always something that you can learn 
from others. 

25. The man or woman who is making use of the 
spare moments in improving the mind — in learning 
something of use and value — is accumulating wealth that 
cannot be lost by fire, flood, bank failure, or injudicious 
investment. 

26. The difference of intellect in men depends more 
on the early cultivation of the habit of attention, than 
any great disparity between the powers of one individual 
and another. 



228 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 5. Reason. 

I would make 
Reason my guide, but she should sometimes sit 
Patiently by the way-side, while I traced 
The mazes of the pleasant wilderness 
Around m'e. She should be my counsellor, 
But not my tyrant. — Bryant. 

1. Reason is the glory of human nature, and one 
of the chief eminences whereby you are raised above the 
beasts. 

2. Wise men are instructed by reason. 

3. Though reason is not to be relied on as uni- 
versally sufficient to direct you what to do, yet it is gen- 
erally to be relied on and obeyed, when it tells you 
what you are not to do. 

4. He that will not reason is a bigot, he that cannot 
reason is a fool, and he that dares not reason is a slave. 

5. Peace rules the day where reason rules the mind. 

6. Reason cannot be consumed by fire or over- 
whelmed by force. 

7. Let your reason and not your senses, be the rule 
of your conduct ; for reason will teach you to think wise- 
ly, to speak prudently, and to behave worthily. 

8. The highest perfection of human reason, is to 
know that there is an infinity of truth beyond its reach. 

9. Mankind is ruled by reason, never by passion. 

10. Reason, as it exists in man, is only your intel- 
lectual eye, and that, like the eye to see, needs light. 

11. Reason reconciles you to the daily things of 
existence. 

12. You can only reason from what you know. 

13. In any line of life, intelligence will enable a 
man to adapt himself to circumstances, suggest improved 
methods of working, and render him more apt, skilled 
and effective in all respects. 

14. Nothing has a greater tendency to obstruct the 
exercise of free inquiry than the spirit and feeling 
of a party. Let a doctrine, however erroneous, become 
a party distinction, and it is at once intrenched in in- 



229 

terests and attachments which make it extremely diffi- 
cult for the most powerful artillery of reason to dislodge 
it. 

15. The human race possesses the power of radiat- 
ing more knowledge than it absorbs, of adding to the 
culture which it gets. 

16. The intellect is merely an instrument, which 
is moved and worked by forces behind it — by emotions, 
by indignation, by enthusiasm, by everything that gives 
force and energy to character. 

17. The lowest quality in character is intellect. 
Not that it is not so valuable as the others, but it is so 
abundant and, without the others, so useless. 

18. Were you possessed of nothing but intellect, 
life would be a dull, monotonous, insipid, and wearisome 
calm. 

19. The term intellect includes all those powers by 
which you acquire, retain, and extend your knowledge. 

20. The mind of man is the noblest production of 
almighty power. 

21. The truly strong and sound mind is that mind 
that can embrace equally great things and small. A man 
should be great in great things, and elegant in small 
things. 

22. The mind is that which perceives, remembers, 
compares, and is susceptible of various emotions, or 
other feelings. 

23. The mind is the instrument which is employed 
in every disquisition into which you enter. 

24. It is the mind that makes good or ill, that makes 
wretchedness or happiness, rich or poor. 

25. All science is in the mind, and must, conse- 
quently, derive its character from the nature and suscep- 
tibilities of the mind. 

26. Mind is not character. 

27. The intelligence of the people is the security 
of the nation. 



230 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 6. Books. 

O books, ye monuments of mind, concr'ete wisdom of the wisest; 
Sweet solaces of daily life, proofs and results of immortality; 
Trees yielding- all fruits, whose leave's are for the healing of the 

nations; 
Groves of knowledge, where all may eat, nor fear a flaming 

sword; 
Gentle comrades, kind advisers, friends, comforts, treasures; 
Helps, governments, diversities of tongues; who can weigh your 

worth? — Tupper. 

1. There is no one thing that enters more deeply 
into the very warp and woof of your character, than the 
books you read. One of the greatest blessings that can 
come to you early in life is the love of good books. 

2. The best books for those who have little time to 
read are those which have stood the test of years, which 
have found their way into many hearts, which have 
brightened many lives, which have awakened many souls 
to noble aspirations, and have been the inspiration of 
other masterpieces of literature. 

3. He that loves a book will never want a faithful 
friend, a wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, 
an effectual comforter. 

4. Biography, well written, is beyond question, the 
richest of all general reading. 

5. It must not be thought that books alone make 
a man, or that merely to know them is education. The 
practical is needed to apply and expand the theoretical. 

6. To become a roundly and fully educated man, it 
is important, beyond almost anything else, to be a lover 
of reading. 

7. No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor 
any pleasure so lasting. 

8. A book is, in a sense, a living being and becomes 
the companion of the one who reads it. 

9. He is the best reader who consumes the most 
knowledge, and converts it into character. 

10. The habit of well-directed reading may become 
a source of the greatest pleasure and self-improvement, 
and exercise a gentle coercion, with the most beneficial 



231 

results, over the whole tenor of your character and con- 
duct. 

ii. The greatest advantage of books does not al- 
ways come from what you remember of them, but from 
their suggestiveness. 

12. In your choice of books, seek to read those that 
will not only bring you into closer sympathy with your 
fellowmen, but will also reveal to you your own nature, 
and help you to be more hopeful, happy and courageous. 

13. The possession of the mere materials of knowl- 
edge is something very different from wisdom and un- 
derstanding, which are reached through a higher kind 
of discipline than that of reading. 

14. As you should associate with people who can 
inspire you to nobler deeds, so you should only read 
those books which have an uplifting power, and which 
stir you to make the most of yourself, and your opportu- 
nities. 

15. If you habitually read books that are elevating 
in tone, pure in style, sound in reasoning, and keen in 
insight, your mind develops the same characteristics. 

16. A college education, or its equivalent, and more, 
is possible to the poorest boy or girl who has access to 
the necessary books. 

17. A man, to be successful even as a specialist, 
should have a good general knowledge, and therefore 
ought to read and study much. A well-informed man is 
always the brighter for it. 

18. Books are the true levelers. They give to all 
who will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual 
presence of the best and greatest of your race. 

19. In the world of books, what is grand and inspir- 
ing may easily become a part of every man's life. 

20. The best books are those which stir you up 
most, and make you the most determined to do some- 
thing and be something yourself. 

21. Whatever you read, read with enthusiasm, with 
energy, read with the whole mind, if you would increase 
vour mental stature. 



232 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 7. Reflection. 

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; 
He who would s'earch for pearls must dive below. 

— Dryden. 

1. There is nothing like reflection to reveal to the 
mind its own limitations. 

2. Neither observation nor reading are of practical 
value, unless you learn to think about what you read and 
see. 

3. It is thought and reflection which make books 
serviceable, and give health and vigor to the mind. 

4. To cram the intellect by reading without due 
reflection, is to weaken and paralyze the mind. 

5. Lack of time is by no means a good excuse for 
lack of thoughtfulness. Some of the most thoughtful 
men have been the busiest men, and have done most of 
their thinking in what would seem to be the most un- 
favorable surroundings. 

6. Success is due largely to the power to think. 

7. The vigorous exercise of the intellectual facul- 
ties, when cultivated, is just as enjoyable as physical 
recreation is to the athlete ; and he who will not think 
loses one of the greatest pleasures of life, as well 
as that which will make him more useful in his relations 
to others. 

8. Thinking, not growth, makes manhood. 

9. The mind must have exercise - — vigorous, strong, 
systematic, continuous. 

10. It is not so much literary culture that is want- 
ed as habits of reflection, thoughtfulness, and right con- 
duct. 

n. It is the thoughtful man in every -day life, who 
is the useful man. 

12. He who never thinks can never be wise. 

13. The mission of true education is to make think- 
ers of all. 



233 

14- Whatever retards a spirit of inquiry, is favor- 
able to error ; whatever promotes it, to truth. 

15. A large number of young men just entering on 
life, are kept back and labor under great difficulties, from 
lack of reflection. 

16. Time spent thinking is well spent. 

17. You cannot perform the operation of pure 
thought except in a healthy state of the body. 

18. Everything should be submitted to the severest 
scrutiny, before it is admitted into the mind as a part of 
the intellectual fabric. 

19. No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, 
can escape the universal duty of questioning all that you 
believe. 

20. Reading makes a full man, but it is thinking 
that makes a wise one. 

21. Learn to reflect on what you read — this is a sure 
road to knowledge. 

22. To join thinking with reading is one of the 
first maxims, and one of the easiest operations. 

23. To read without reflecting, is like eating with- 
out digesting. 

24. If a student has a well trained mind, he is pre- 
pared to learn any business with ease. 

25. A man may be great by chance, but never wise 
and good without taking pains about it. 

26. Correct expression of your ideas is an aid to 
correct thinking. 

27. No book worthy the name should be read 
hastily, and most good books should be read more than 
once to really gain all the benefit to be derived from 
them. The test of the value of a book, lies in how well it 
will bear re-reading. 

28. Learn to absorb the mental and moral life of a 
book, and assimilate it into your life. 

29. The value of books may be truly gauged by the 
manner in which they stimulate thought. 

30. Wholesome, properly conducted intellectual 
training, not only quickens the perceptions, but enlarges 
their range. 



234 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 8. Memory. 

Lull'd in the countless chambers of the brain, 
Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain. 
Awake but one, and lo, what myriads arise! 
Each stamps its image as the other flies. — Rogers. 

i. The mind must form the habit of being checked 
and interrupted, and of bringing itself back to the point 
from which it was taken off, and at once pursuing the 
train of mental operations in which it was engaged. 
Until this power is obtained, you are not prepared for 
active life ; and in proportion as it is acquired, in that 
proportion will little hindrances appear to you of little 
consequence. 

2. Memory is the grand instrument of conveying 
knowledge from one man to another. Its cultivation is 
of the highest importance. 

3. He who has a memory that can seize with an iron 
grasp, and retain everything he reads, sees, and hears, 
will scarcely fail of being distinguished, if he possess, 
though only in a moderate degree, the other faculty of 
making practical use of his information. 

4. Every time you crowd into the memory what 
you do not expect it to retain, you weaken its power, and 
you lose your authority to command its service. 

5. You are in great danger if you neglect your 
memory. It is too valuable to be neglected, for by it 
wonders are sometimes accomplished. 

6. Memory must be reckoned with in the making 
of manhood. No one lives a royal life who does not 
secure for the future a memory that can exercise its 
functions, without the curse of regret and the penalty 
of remorse. 

7. Memory is the cabinet of the imagination, the 
treasury of reason, the registry of conscience, and the 
council chamber of thought. 

8. The most effectual aid to the attainment of broad 
culture, wide knowledge, familiarity with the great 
minds of the past and present, is a good memory; and 



235 

those who take the time and trouble to cultivate this 
faculty will be abundantly rewarded.. 

9. Memory is one of the most wonderful gifts God 
has bestowed on you ; and one of the most mysterious ; 
you cannot fill it full of knowledge in a life time. Pour 
in all you please and it still thirsts for more. 

10. It is well early to store your mind with the best 
things. You have to take pains to do this, for the mem- 
ory is a perverse faculty, apt to cling to the least worthy 
treasure. 

11. You can draw from your bank of learning or 
manhood just what you have stored there, not an ounce 
more. In any crisis you must stand or fall by your 
reserve power. 

12. It is memory alone that enriches the mind by 
preserving what your labor and industry daily collect. 

13. It is the knowledge, experience, and character, — 
the mental and moral wealth which you have accumu- 
lated during your whole life, — that measure your real 
power and influence today, as you will learn to your sat- 
isfaction or chagrin, when you are subjected to any 
severe trial. 

14. It is to live twice, when you can enjoy the 
recollections of your former life. 

15. He who has intellectual resources to fall back 
on, will not lack for daily recreation most wholesome. 

16. Memory is the only paradise out of which you 
cannot be driven. 

17. It is of no use gathering treasures if you can- 
not store them ; it is equally useless to learn what you 
cannot retain in the memory. 

18. It is not what you study, but what you remem- 
ber and reflect on, that makes you learned. 

19. Your capacity for joy is far greater than for 
pain. Nothing is so easily forgotten as pain, nothing 
so long treasured as the remembrance of a supremely 
happy moment. 

20. The faculty of memory can be cultivated and 
developed, as successfully as the athlete develops his 
muscles, and with more pleasure and far less effort. 



236 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 9. Study. 

If not to some peculiar end design'd 

Study's th'e specious trifling of the mind, 

Or is at best a secondary aim, 

A chase for sport alone, and not for game. — Young. 

1. Every occupation gives abundant field for study. 

2. There is no talent that comes unasked; there is 
no grace of mind and heart that stays unurged. 

3. Education is only secured at the cost of hard 
study; hard study is not to be accounted a curse then, 
but hailed as a boon. 

4. With few acquirements now, and few opportuni- 
ties, you may, it you only will, gain the useful knowledge 
of the greatest scholars, but you will have to study if 
you do it. 

5. Never does so great a responsibility rest on you 
as while a student, because you are then forming your 
character and habits, and setting your standard for all 
future life. 

6. You may call on your mind today for its highest 
efforts, and stretch it to the uttermost in your power, 
and you have done yourself a kindness. The mind will 
be all the better for it. Tomorrow you may do it again ; 
each time it will answer more readily to your call. 

7. Other things may be seized on by might, or 
purchased with money ; but knowledge is to be gained 
only by study. 

8. Men, as a race, are earnest lovers of and seekers 
for the truth. They long to discover it, reveal it to their 
fellows, and hand it down to their descendants. 

9. No one reaches a point at which he can abandon 
study, and live altogether on his past reputation. 

10. To make life a continual success, you should 
start out with the determination of becoming a student 
for life. 

11. You should possess a certain amount of liberal 
and scientific information, to which you should always 
be adding something as long as you live. 



237 

12. It is not the quantity of study that you get 
through, or the amount of reading, that makes you wise ; 
but the advantage of the study to the purpose for which 
it is pursued ; the concentration of the mind, for the time 
being, on the subject under consideration ; and the 
habitual discipline by which the whole system of mental 
application is regulated. 

13. For any profession or business, it takes a long 
course of study before any real and substantial success 
can be looked for. 

14. Every youth should have a regular course of 
study of some kind, even if he does not expect to use his 
knowledge at once. He will learn to accumulate facts, 
and will eventually have his mind in good working order. 
You cannot know too much of a subject which you expect 
to use. 

15. Chance or circumstance may so cause it that 
another shall reap what he does not sow; but no man 
can be deprived, whether by accident or misfortune, of 
the fruits of his own studies ; and the liberal and extended 
acquisitions of knowledge, which he makes, are all for 
his own use. 

16. Physical, mental and moral faculties are all 
developed by exercise. It does not matter how bright 
a mind you have, if you do not use it, you will lose it. 

17. Thoroughness and accuracy are two principal 
points to be aimed at in study. 

18. Wherever you observe a defective line of intel- 
lect or character, there is the place for educational stays 
and braces. The man will break at his least fortified 
link of intelligence or character. 

19. Mankind's study of man occupies nearly the 
whole field of literature. The burden of history is what 
man has been ; of law, what he does ; of physiology, what 
he is ; of ethics, what he ought to be ; of revelation, what 
he shall be. 

20. All the genius in the world will not help you 
much unless you become a hard student. 



2 3 8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 10. Opinion. 

Poise the caus'e in justice's equal scales, 
Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails. 

— Shakespeare. 

i. Every individual, however humble, should insist 
strenuously on the right of private judgment; and repel 
the assumption that there is any culpability in not abso- 
lutely accepting the prevalent political or religious 
beliefs. 

2. It is your duty to form the truest opinions you 
can ; to form them carefully, and never impose them on 
others, unless you are quite sure of being right 

3. Your opinions are a part of you. 

4. Opinion governs everything, and nothing more 
directly than personal character. 

5. It is always of interest, as well as of greater or 
less value, to compare your own conclusions with those 
of others whose opinions you respect. 

6. There is no such thing as absolute certainty in 
forming opinion, but there is assurance sufficient for the 
purposes of human life. 

7. The cultivation of the understanding consists, 
more than in any other one thing, in learning the grounds 
of your opinions. 

8. Opinion is almost always of the nature of sight, 
expressing the result of your own observations, or else of 
the observations of others. 

9. Public opinion, — which is the great court of ap- 
peal, — grows more discerning and more powerful with 
the spread of education and enlightenment, and its influ- 
ence cannot fail to be increasingly effective. 

10. From the tribunal of the public there is no 
appeal, and it is fit that it should be so. 

11. It is certain that many opinions, now general, 
will be rejected by future ages, as it is that many, once 
general, are rejected by the present. 

12. Religious and political opinions are the con- 
crete form of moral character. 



239 

13. Public opinion itself is, for the most part, the 
outgrowth of the home. 

14. The smallest actions of your daily life become 
the lights which guide opinion. 

15. Be not frightened or provoked with opinions 
differing from your own. 

16. Every right thinking man has a right to send 
his thoughts abroad into any latitude, and to give them 
sweep around the earth. 

17. You form your opinions, and you have a right 
to express them. You can tell what you think, and 
there is no discourtesy in doing so. 

18. It is never the opinions of others that displease, 
but the pertinacity they display in obtruding them. 

19. The thoughtful man realizes that every ques- 
tion has usually a great many different sides, and he 
therefore does not consider he has a right to formulate 
an opinion until he has studied and reflected on the mat- 
ter from every standpoint ; further knowledge may 
cause him to modify his opinion, for only the narrow, 
unthinking man never changes his mind. 

20. Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason 
is left to combat it. 

21. He who has no opinion of his own, but depends 
on the opinions and tastes of others, is a slave. 

22. Men who feel their strength within them need 
not fear to encounter adverse opinions ; they have far 
greater reason to fear undue praise and too friendly crit- 
icism. 

23. Whatever you are that is good, you owe in a 
great measure to the opinion of those with whom you 
associate. 

24. No man can set up rights of priority in matters 
of opinion on any subject. 

25. Fame or infamy, flows down to the many, from 
the mature judgment of the comparatively few. 

26. Whoever is afraid of submitting any question 
to the test of free discussion, is more in love with his 
opinion than with truth. 



240 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 11. Tact. 

The keen spirit 
Seizes the prompt occasion — makes the thought 
Start into instant action, and at once 
Plans and performs, resolves and executes! 

— Hannah Moore. 

1. Possible friends are offended, influential patrons 
lost, and a career of energy and perseverance often 
spoiled, by want of tact. 

2. Tact is the life of the five senses. It is the open 
eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and 
the lively touch. 

3. Tact prevents blunders that would make ene- 
mies, but does not necessarily make friends. 

4. A man of tact will seize on the most trivial inci- 
dent and clothe it with magic, witchery and poetry ; while 
the man without tact will trample on your corn, probe 
unhealed wounds, expose your closet skeleton, touch all 
your sore places, and blunder and stammer about wholly 
unnecessary subjects of conversation. 

5. Tact is not bounded by the confines of the social 
realm. Its influence is felt in all the relations of life ; its 
potency is visible no less on the material than on the 
ethical plan. 

6. Tact cuts the knots it cannot untie, and leads 
its forces to glorious victory. 

7. Tact will manipulate one talent so as to get more 
out of it in a lifetime, than ten talents will accomplish 
without tact. 

8. Tact is a child of necessity. It has its highest 
development where man has to struggle hardest for 
existence. 

9. Tact is something more than manner, yet man- 
ner enters largely into it. It is a combination of quick- 
ness, firmness, readiness, good temper and facility. It 
is something which never offends, never excites jealousy, 
never provokes rivalry, never treads on other people's 
toes. 



241 

io. Tact is really the highest essence of true polite- 
ness ; the real tactician is he who does a disagreeable 
duty in the most pleasant manner, robbing it of its sting. 
In all the affairs of life, it is a sword that cuts both ways, 
and generally with profit to all parties concerned. 

11. An encouraging thing about tact is that, unlike 
talent, if you are born without it, it may be acquired. 
The fundamental rule for its acquisition is that you shall 
forget yourself and minister unto the temperaments, 
tastes, likes and leanings of others. 

12. Tact is practical talent; it is force of character 
united to dexterity of action, and softened by ease of 
manner; it is insight guided by experience. It detects a 
want, and at once supplies a remedy. It sees an opening 
and immediately profits by it, and for all practical pur- 
poses of life is more valuable than talent. 

13. Talent is power, tact is skill. Talent is weight, 
tact is momentum. Talent knows what to do, tact 
knows how to do it. Talent makes a man respectable, 
tact makes him respected. Talent is wealth, tact is ready 
money. Tact makes friends, talent may make enemies. 

14. Tact is that nice diplomatic art which enables 
you, without deception or hypocracy, to be seemingly 
the same to all men, yet varying with each according 
to his peculiarity, and according to the mind of the man 
at the time, ready to see and seize any opportunity that 
offers to forward the end in view, in every transaction. 

15. Many fine opportunities are wasted, by men of 
estimable character and more than ordinary talent, for 
want of tact. 

16. Tact will win its way to the foremost places, 
while talent lags in the rear. 

17. Tact adapts to its use anything that lies close 
at hand. 

18. Tact may be defined as utter unselfishness, self- 
forgetfulness in action. 

19. Tact means a ready power of appreciating and 
doing what is required by circumstances. 

20. Whatever people think of you, do that which 
you believe to be right. Be alike indifferent to censure 
or praise. 



242 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XII. Part 12. Home. 

Home is the resort 
Of love, of joy, of peace, and plenty, wh'ere 
Supporting and supported, polish'ed friends, 
And dear relations mingle into bliss. — Thomson. 

i. Home is the first and most important school of 
character. It is there that you imbibe those principles 
of conduct which endure through manhood, and cease 
only with life. 

2. The backbone of character is laid at home ; and 
whether the constitutional tendencies be good or bad, 
home influences will, as a rule, fan them into activity. 

3. Home training includes not only manners and 
mind, but character. It is mainly in the home that the 
heart is opened, the habits formed, the intellect awak- 
ened, and character moulded for good or for evil. 

4. A cheerful home and smiling face do more to 
make good men and women, than all the learning and 
eloquence that can be used. 

5. The influences of home perpetuate themselves. 

6. A true home is one of the most sacred of places. 
It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world's 
perils and alarms. It is a resting place whither, at close 
of day, the weary retire to gather new strength for the 
battle and the toils of tomorrow. It is the place where 
love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into disci- 
pline and strength, where character is moulded. 

7. The queen that sits on the throne of home, 
crowned and sceptered as none other ever can be, is 
mother. Her enthronement is complete, her reign unri- 
valled, and the moral issues of her empire are eternal. 

8. A home is a residence not merely of the body 
but of the heart. It is a place for the affections to 
develop themselves. 

9. The only real home a man has on earth is the 
spot in which he would rather be than in any other. 
The place in which he gets most rest, most comfort, most 
solace, most satisfaction to every craving of his nature — 
that is home. 



243 

io. It is in the order of nature that domestic life 
should be preparatory to social, and that the mind should 
first be formed in the home. 

ii. It is in the home that the first fruits of every- 
thing which is good and pure are brought forth. 

12. Only the right kind of a home can furnish the 
right start in the world. 

13. Every young man needs a home of his own. 
If he is wise he will, in due time, have one. The sooner 
he makes up his mind to that fact the better it will be 
for him. 

14. If the home is graced and sweetened with 
kindness and smiles, no matter how humble the abode, 
the heart will turn lovingly toward it from all the tumult 
of the world, and it will be the dearest spot beneath the 
circuit of the sun. 

15. Whatever may be the efficiency of schools, the 
example set in the home must always be of vastly 
greater influence, in forming the character of future 
men and women. 

16. The good home is the best of schools, not only 
in youth but in age. There young and old best learn 
cheerfulness, patience, self-control, and the spirit of 
service and of duty. 

17. The Christian home, implying marriage, mutual 
affection, piety, gentleness, refinement, meekness, for- 
bearance, is man's ideal of earthly happiness — a beauti- 
ful and impressive type of heaven. 

18. Good moral habits are essential to the healthful- 
ness of the home. 

19. A man's whole mind may be in his business, 
but if he would be happy, his whole heart must be in his 
home. It is there that his genuine qualities more surely 
display themselves — there that he shows his truthfulness, 
his love, his sympathy, his consideration for others, his 
uprightness, his manliness — in a word, his character. 

20. Guard against reading too much or too rapidly. 
Read rather with attention ; lay the book down often ; 
impress on your mind what you have read, and reflect 
on it. 



244 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 1. Ambition. 

The true ambition that alone resides, 
Where justice vindicates, and wisdom guides; 
Where inward dignity joins outward state, 
Our purpose good, as our achievement great; 
Where public blessings, public praise attend, 
Where glory is our motive, not our end. — Young. 

1. The ambition to excel may be a holy or an 
unholy one. If it is prompted by a desire to excel others 
for the simple pleasure of being above them, it is wrong. 
If, however, it arises from a desire to excel for the pur- 
pose of elevating others to the same point, it is right. 

2. It is the passion of ambition that drives men to 
all the ways you see in use of signalizing themselves, 
and that tends to make whatever excites in a man the 
idea of this distinction so very pleasant. 

3. God has planted in man a sense of ambition, and 
a satisfaction arising from the contemplation of his fel- 
lows in something deemed valuable among them. 

4. The wish for public approval impels you to do 
many things which you would otherwise not do — to 
undertake great labors, face great dangers, and habit- 
ually rule yourself in a way that smooths social inter- 
course, and in gratifying your love of approbation you 
subserve ulterior purposes. 

5. The ambition that comprehends another's wel- 
fare first, is the highest you can have. 

6. He who has an ambition for a studious life and 
a desire for education, and fails of them because of pov- 
erty, is singularly lacking in force of character. 

7. Sooner or later there come to every man dreams 
of ambition. 

8. Every youth, however limited his opportunities, 
should have an ambition to be known for some one 
thing; to be master in some particular line. 

9. Generous ambition and sensibility to praise are, 
especially in youth, among the marks of virtue. 

10. With interminable industry and unconquer- 
able perseverance, pursue the object of your ambition. 



245 

n. Do not be deluded with ambition beyond your 
power of reasonable attainment, or tortured by wishes 
totally disproportioned to your capacity of fulfillment. 

12. True ambition is a grand thing; without it you 
would be a slave. 

13. Set the goal of your ambition, and then climb 
to it by steady, earnest steps. 

14. There are two ambitions: the honest and the 
inordinate. Against the latter you must guard yourself. 

15. You cannot accomplish much without a clean- 
cut purpose, a lofty ambition. — an ambition which soars 
upward and does not grovel. 

16. A high ambition entirely transforms a human 
being, making him despise ease and sloth and welcome 
toil and hardship, to gratify his master passion. 

17. Mere ambition has impelled many a man to a 
life of eminence and usefulness ; its higher manifestation, 
aspiration, has led him beyond the stars. 

18. Having chosen his occupation, the young man 
of proper ambition will not be long in selecting for him- 
self an honorable position in it, to be filled as soon as he 
has shown himself worthy and capable. 

19. Ambition, controlled by right motives, never 
harms any one. 

20. Ambition to do good, to develop your talents 
to their utmost capacity, is praiseworthy. 

21. No truly ambitious man will mind working to 
achieve his ambition. 

22. Ambition is the spur that makes man struggle 
with destiny; it is God's own incentive to make purpose 
great and achievement greater. 

23. Discontent without ambition and perseverance, 
is an unwholesome thing. 

24. Men place their ambitions so high that they 
scarcely ever accomplish them ; if they do, they regret 
that their aim was not higher. 

25. Ambition makes timidity strong and weakness 
valiant. 

26. The making of your way comes only from the 
quickening of resolve, which is called ambition. 



246 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 2. Aspiration. 

All possibilities are in its hands, 

No danger daunts it, and no foe withstands; 

In its sublime audacity of faith, 

"Be thou removed!" it to the mountain saith, 

And with audacious feet, secure and proud, 

Ascends the ladder leaning on the cloud. — Longfellow. 

1. The efforts of the young for worthy success, 
mean much to society and to the individual. 

2. You cannot aspire if you look down. If you 
would rise, you must look up. 

3. The ideal life, the life of full completion, haunts 
everyone. You feel the thing you ought to be beating 
beneath the thing you are. 

4. No one is so satisfied with himself that he never 
wishes to be wiser, better, or richer. 

5. The sweetest, the grandest thing in your life 
is the illusion which hangs constantly before you, which 
you never can seize, and which, as you die, you still look 
toward and sigh for, trusting that in another world you 
can reach it. 

6. Power to do good is the true and lawful end of 
aspiring; for good thoughts are little better than good 
dreams, unless they be put into action; and that cannot 
be without power and place, as the vantage and com- 
manding ground. 

7. As a rule, what the heart longs for, the head and 
hands may attain. 

8. The search after the great is the dream of youth, 
and the most serious occupation of manhood. 

9. The effort or struggle to climb to a higher place 
in life, has strength and dignity in it, and cannot fail 
to leave you strength for the struggle. 

10. Honorable efforts in the direction of fortune- 
building, are always worthy of encouragement. 

11. To hear always, to think always, learn always 
— it is thus that you truly live; he who aspires to noth- 
ing, and learns nothing, is not worthy of living. 

12. The aesthetic faculties, the aspiring instincts, in 
a well-developed man, are ever more imperious in their 



247 

demands for the true and the beautiful, for the higher 
and the nobler, than is the body for material food. 

13. Consciously or not, you continually reach out 
to something beyond. 

14. Whatever will be for your benefit, for the good 
of mind or heart, this you should desire and seek with 
all your might. 

15. It is the quality of the aspiration that deter- 
mines the true success or failure of a life. 

16. So long as you have a desire for better things, 
you still have in reserve, greater or less, in proportion to 
the earnestness of your aspirations, the very power you 
need in attaining what you seek. 

17. The most forbidding circumstances cannot 
repress a longing for knowledge, a yearning for growth. 

18. You cannot have too much of that yearning 
called aspiration; for, even though you do not attain 
your ideal, the efforts you make will bring nothing but 
blessing. 

19. From the lowest depth there is a path to the 
loftiest height. 

20. God has not created you with aspirations and 
longings for heights to which you cannot climb. 

21. No aspiration is too high ; the very grandeur of 
it is a promise of strength for its fulfillment. 

22. Aspiration finally becomes inspiration, and 
ennobles the whole life. 

23. As a rule, it is the intensity of that divine hun- 
ger within for achievement, that thirst for knowledge 
that must be quenched, which measures your success- 
power. 

24. At every round of the ladder, it is possible to set 
before yourself human dignity and moral grandeur as 
your aim. 

25. Every human heart feels the aspiration to a 
higher moral and social attainment, in some form at 
some time, and it is the duty of the government to place 
incentives in the pathway of all classes of its citizens, to 
keep this spark of celestial fire aglow, and to make it 
possible for the citizen to nourish it into a living 
flame. 



248 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 3. Admiration. 

What we admire we praise; and when we praise, 
Advance it into notice, that its worth 
Acknowledged, others may admire it, too. — Cowper. 

i. Let the young man, ambitious of intellectual 
excellence, cultivate admiration ; it is by admiration only 
of what is beautiful and sublime, that you can mount 
up a few steps towards the likeness of what you admire. 

2. Large appreciation and high admiration of 
excellence, are generally indications of large powers and 
high talents, in the appreciator or admirer. 

3. Society admires its scholar, but it reveres and 
loves its hero whose intellect is clothed with goodness; 
for character is not of the intellect, but of the disposi- 
tion. 

4. No man will succeed who has not a grand pur- 
pose in life. You must have some object to live for. It 
must be definite, distinct, and command your admira- 
tion. 

5. You must admire good humor, a blithe temper 
and a resilient imagination, even when they show forth 
in inferior men. 

6. When people fall into the habit of admiring and 
encouraging ability as such, without reference to moral 
character, they are on the highway to all sorts of degra- 
dation. 

7. Early learn the habit of admiration for every- 
thing that can inspire and ennoble life, for all that is 
beautiful and sublime. Thus may you redeem your 
existence from the curse of commonness. 

8. Do you admire honest, and manly men? — if you 
do you are yourself of an honest, brave, and manly 
spirit. 

9. People admire others of their own disposition. 

10. It is in the season of youth, while the charac- 
ter is forming, that the impulse to admire is the greatest. 

11. It is natural to admire and revere really great 
men. They hallow the nation to which they belong, and 



249 

lift up, not only all who live in their time, but those who 
live after them. 

12. Everyone admires a determined, persistent 
man. 

13. Good admiration and bad example, only build 
with one hand, to pull down with the other. 

14. Great and good men draw others after them, 
exciting the spontaneous admiration of mankind. 

15. The admiration of noble character elevates the 
mind, and tends to redeem it from the bondage of self, 
one of the greatest stumbling blocks to moral improve- 
ment. 

16. If you admire mean men it is because your 
nature is mean. 

17. Admiration of great men, living or dead, natur- 
ally evokes imitation of them, in a greater or less degree, 

18. Intense admiration for individuals — such as 
you cannot conceive entertained for a multitude — has in 
all times produced heroes and martyrs. It is thus that 
the mastery of character makes itself felt. It acts by 
inspiration, quickening and vivifying the natures subject 
to its influence. 

19. The very sight of a great and good man, is 
often an inspiration to the young, who cannot help 
admiring and loving the gentle, the brave, the truthful, 
and the magnanimous. 

20. There is something which everyone admires in 
an aspiring soul, one whose tendency is upward and 
onward, in spite of hindrances and in defiance of obsta- 
cles. 

21. There is nothing which all mankind venerate 
and admire so much as simple truth, exempt from artifice, 
duplicity and design. It exhibits at once a strength of 
character and integrity of purpose, in which all are wil- 
ling to confide. 

22. Admiration of the beautiful is natural and 
intuitive. 

23. Everybody admires achievement. 

24. It is the bright, cheerful, hopeful, contented 
man, who makes his way, who is respected and admired. 



250 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 4. Ideals. 

Still, through our paltry stir and strife, 

Glows down the wished ideal, 
And longing molds in clay what life 

Carves in the marble real; 
To let the new life in, we know, 

Desire must ope the portal; 
Perhaps the longing to be so 

Helps make the soul immortal. 

— James Russell Lowell. 

1. The thirst of the human mind for the ideal, is no 
less normal and imperative, than its hunger for the real. 

2. Sooner or later you become like the food of your 
mind, like the creatures that live in your heart. 

3. The constant struggle to attain the character of 
your ideal, is a wonderful uplift to the mind. It sustains 
and strengthens it. 

4. Dominated by a great idea, the weak become 
strong, the timid brave, the vacillating resolute. 

5. There has never been an act of importance that 
was not first a theory, a creed, or principle of faith. 

6. The true life of a young man lies in his visions, 
his high ideals, and in his endeavor to realize them. 

7. Loss of faith in ideals is destructive of charac- 
ter and stops its growth ; an ideal not followed is soon 
lost. 

8. The reception of new ideas not only adds to the 
stock, but modifies the old. Ideas are living principles 
that act and react like chemicals on each other, produc- 
ing fresh compounds in the mind. But their force does 
not end in thought ; it is reproduced in action. 

9. What the age to come will be is determined by 
what this age dreams. The institutions of today are 
the fruit of the aspirations of yesterday. 

10. The ideal is the lever which has lifted the race 
of men, throughout the generations of the past, to higher 
and higher planes of being, and which will continue to 
lift them throughout the generations to come. 

11. All inventors and discoverers are obliged to 



25i 

use the imagination. They see their inventions as ideals 
and images, long before they are able to put them into 
practice. 

12. The imagination is the chief fortress of the 
mind, and must be reckoned with first of all, after the 
body itself, in the building up of a strong character. 

13. Imagery may be valued as a help, provided you 
do not rest your hope and affections and desires on the 
images, but on the inerrable and indescribable beyond. 

14. Men's lives and characters are determined 
mainly by their ideals, that is, by the things they lay to 
heart and live by, often without themselves being aware 
of it; by those things which they in their inmost souls 
love, desire, aim at, as the best possibilities for them- 
selves and others. 

15. The man with the ideal, struggling to carry it 
out, is the successful man. Of course, there are all 
grades of ideals, and the man with the highest, given the 
proportionate energy, is the most successful. The world 
makes way for that kind of men. 

16. A man is what his ideal makes him, and it is 
important at the very outset of life, not only to have a 
high ideal, but to guard it jealously and keep it ever 
in sight ; otherwise it will soon be buried under the sordid 
motives which the pursuit of wealth begets. 

17. Shape your course early in life, mark out the 
man you want to be, and then follow the pattern closely, 
remembering that if you go contrary to your plans for 
years, you cannot jump into a character precisely the 
reverse. 

18. A noble ideal reflects its glory in the face and 
form, and life of the soul it dominates. 

19. You need the ideal more even than you need 
bread. The ideal is the bread of the soul. 

20. After once forming high ideals, you shall never- 
more be content with the low and the common. Charac- 
ter always develops according to the pattern within. 

21. Your ideal determines your character. 



2$2 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 5. High Aim. 

Greatly begin! Though thou hast time 

But for a line, be that sublime, — 

Not failure, but low aim, is crime. — Lowell. 

1. Nothing else so strengthens the mind, enlarges 
the manhood, and widens the thought, as the constant 
effort to measure up to a high ideal, to struggle after 
that which is above and beyond you. 

2. A healthful hunger for a great idea is the beauty 
and blessedness of life. 

3. Place no limit on your ambition, since the field 
is free to all, and work the price of progress. 

4. To look constantly to a high ideal, is the only 
safe course for him who would become cultured and win 
real success. 

5. There is a certain indescribable charm about the 
person who has formed a habit of looking up ; there is 
a superior quality in everything he does. 

6. A soul occupied with great ideas, best performs 
small duties ; the divinest views of life penetrate most 
clearly into the meanest emergencies. 

7. Try to be sombody with all your might. 

8. The importance of having great models, high 
ideals, held constantly before the mind, when it is in a 
plastic condition, cannot be over-estimated. 

9. Practice the art of stretching your mind over 
great expectations. In this way you will broaden your 
position. If you learn the art of expecting great things 
for and from yourself, you are more likely to prepare 
yourself for great things. 

10. A noble character cannot be developed under 
the shadow of a low, sordid aim. The ideal must be high ; 
the purpose strong; worthy and true ; or the life will be a 
failure. 

11. Cultivating an upward tendency in all that you 
do, and holding steadily a high ideal in the mind, is a 
perpetual stimulus to do things better and better, a daily 
incentive to a love of excellence. 



253 

12. You cannot rise above that at which you aim. 

13. It is a great purpose which gives meaning to 
life; it unifies all your powers, binds them together in 
one cable ; makes strong and united what was weak, sep- 
arated, and scattered. 

14. Give your life, your energy, your enthusiasm, 
all to the highest work of which you are capable. 

15. The proper attitude towards life, is to seek the 
very best it has to give. 

16. Aim high ! not alone at the material heights of 
ambition and estate, but strive for those attributes of 
mind and heart which tend toward the development and 
perfection of character; that pervasive essence which 
runs like a clearly denned thread through your individ- 
ual lives. 

17. If the aim be right, the life in its details cannot 
be far wrong. Your heart must inspire what your hands 
execute, or the work will be poorly done. The hand can- 
not reach higher than does the heart. 

18. No matter what your work may be, or what you 
may do, put your ideal into it ; be sure there is an upward 
tendency in it, an inspiring quality, a certain indefinable 
something which allies it to the divine. 

19. As a rule, the larger the endowments of those 
faculties which go to build up success in life, the higher 
the aim which accompanies them. 

20. The important thing in life is to have a great 
aim, and to possess aptitude and the perseverance to 
attain it. 

21. There is no grander sight in the world than 
that of a young man fired with a great purpose, dominated 
by one unwavering aim. 

22. Every youth should choose a high ideal in the 
person of some one to whom he can look up, and whose 
character he would like to resemble. 

23. You cannot aspire if you look downward. Look 
upward, live upward. 

24. A high standard is absolutely necessary. Dare 
to aim high. 

25. You cannot hope to be the best in any field of 
labor, but you can hope to be among the best. 



254 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 
Book XIII. Part 6. Judgment. 

Oh! blind and wanting wit to choose, 

Who house the chaff and burn the grain; 

Who hug- the wealth ye cannot use, 

And lack the riches all may gain. — William Watson. 

1. Success depends very largely on the ability to 
estimate properly, not the apparent but the real value of 
everything presented. 

2. You can judge but poorly of anything, while you 
measure it by no other standard but itself. 

3. Knowing that you have sought for objections 
and difficulties, instead of avoiding them, and have shut 
out no light which can be thrown on the subject from 
any quarter — you have a right to think your judgment 
better than that of any person who has not gone through 
a similar process. 

4. One great object in study, is to form the judg- 
ment, so that the mind cannot only investigate, but weigh 
and balance opinions and theories. 

5. Accept suggestions, but always use your own 
judgment as to what to adopt or reject. 

6. One of the first great lessons of life, is to learn 
the true estimate of values. 

7. Interest has keen eyes, and soon appraises its 
servants at their real value. 

8. The right use of appearances is the crowning 
glory of judgment, and the greatest end of human intel- 
ligence. 

9. The youth who would succeed must not allow 
himself to be deceived by appearances, but must place the 
emphasis of life where it belongs. 

10. You must decide for yourself what your duties 
are, and in what manner you can perform them to the 
best adantage. 

11. Good judgment may be pronounced deliber- 
ately or swiftly, according to the temperament of the 
judge, and quick judgment need not necessarily be bad 
judgment, although it often is so. 



255 

12. There are two distinct modes of making worldly 
success : one is by means of bold, speculative strokes ; 
the other by patient accumulation; but one way is as 
dependent on good judgment as the other. 

13. In the end you judge men by their work, not 
by their lives ; by their best not their worst. 

14. No matter how efficient a man may be in other 
qualities, if he is not a judge of men he is doomed to 
failure. 

15. Good judgment in minor daily matters, hinges 
on a clear understanding of the relation of things ; gained 
by experimental comparison of order with disorder, har- 
mony with the inharmonious. 

16. Any fair-minded person, with an eye for both 
sides of a question, can cultivate good judgment. 

17. Good judgment is a perfect balance struck 
between intuition and reason. The masculine mind is 
capable of good judgment, when to its indigenous reason- 
ing powers, is added the intuitive sensibility of a woman 
— to a moderate degree. A woman has good judgment, 
when to native intuition, she prefixes and affixes temper- 
ately masculine logic. 

18. Important as are obedience and discipline, they 
must not be carried to the point where they suppress 
individual judgment and destroy liberty. 

19. Bodily health is undoubtedly a condition of the 
soundness of practical judgment. 

20. Judgment is . invariably bad when colored by 
prejudices, confining your vision to one standpoint — that 
at which you have arrived by means of arbitrary per- 
sonal inclination, irrespective of extraneous motives and 

standpoints, bearing pertinently and logically on the 
matter. 

21. Associate with men of good judgment, for 
judgment is found in conversation, and you make anoth- 
er's judgment yours, by frequenting his company. 

22. In the affairs of life or of business, it is not 
intellect that tells, so much as heart— not genius, so 
much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated 
by judgment. 

23. Men are slow in having sound judgment. 



256 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 7. Foresight. 

Often do the spirits 
Of great events stride on before the events, 
And in today already walks tomorrow. — Coleridge. 

1. There is no condition of life, however low, from 
which a man may not aspire and rise to the highest hon- 
ors, and the most enviable distinction ; provided that he 
has the requisite natural endowments, favorable oppor- 
tunities, and the ability and foresight to grasp them. 

2. Man easily sees before his mind's eye the whole 
path of life, and prepares things necessary for passing 
along it. 

3. Time is the best friend and ally to those that 
have the discernment to use it properly, and watch the 
opportunities it presents ; and the worst enemy to those 
who will be rushing into action, when it does not call 
them. 

4. The most successful men and women are they 
who soonest find out what they are fitted for, and 
educate themselves accordingflv. 

5. The lucky man is the man who sees and grasps 
his opportunity. 

6. Do not wait for opportunities to thrust them- 
selves on you ; good chances are always awaiting the 
reception of those who recognize them. 

7. Rightly to divine your own life, is the most dan- 
gerous and difficult of tasks. 

8. There is such a thing as too much foresight. 
People get to figuring what might happen, and forget to 
note what is happening. 

9. If you have a clear idea of what you desire to 
do, you will seldom fail in selecting the proper means of 
accomplishing it. 

10. Every man who is successful in large affairs, 
must possess foresight. 

11. You must face the future; must be an up-to- 
date man. You must look forward, not backward. 

12. One who falls in with time's changes, and goes 



257 

with the current of human affairs, will succeed; while 
those who obstinately cling to worn-out theories, and 
try to swim against the current, will go down in the 
eddy. 

13. To succeed you must be prepared to seize and 
improve the opportunity when it comes. 

14. Perhaps it is due to an inherent strain of wis- 
dom, that man discovers himself early and lays hold at 
once on the safeguards which insure permanent suc- 
cess, at the outset of his career; and at the same time 
conserves his natural forces for a long and steady 
course. 

15. In counsel, it is good to see dangers; and in 
execution, not to see them, except they be very great. 

16. A man forewarned is forearmed. 

17. The successful man is he who sees the changes 
coming, and. accordingly adjusts himself to them. 

18. There is strong hope for you if you realize your 
shortcomings, for you will work hard to overcome them. 

19. Chances or opportunities come to everyone, 
often, in a lifetime. They should be recognized. Never 
let one slip, but weigh the possibilities. 

20. The secret of success, so far as there is any 
secret, lies in the power of foresight. It comes simply 
from the habit of looking at every side of a question, of 
weighing the favorable and unfavorable features of a sit- 
uation, and of sifting out the inevitable result through 
good judgment. 

21. Look sharply and with exhaustive glances 
about you, and see where you may drive in your enter- 
ing wedge. 

22. Foresight and forethought are necessary to the 
planning of a successful life ; but you must learn to dis- 
tinguish between foresight, forethought, and the grind- 
ing anxiety and fear which paralyze the energies and sap 
the vital forces. 

23. In the storms of life, those that are foreseen 
are half overcome. 

24. Wide-seeing and far-seeing: an open and clear 
eye — produce results. 



2 5 8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 
Book XIII. Part 8. Enthusiasm. 

He either fears his fate too much, 

Or his deserts are small, 
That dares not put it to the touch, 

To gain or lose it all. — Montrose. 

1. Enthusiasm is the salt of life, the transmuting 
power that renews and enriches everything it touches. 
It gives new heart, courage to the mind, new hope to 
the discouraged, and to the already strong and coura- 
geous increased power for good. 

2. The enthusiasm of youth is almost irresistible. 
It casts all shadows behind. It sees nothing but sun- 
shine. It drives away fear and limitation. Nothing can 
take its place. 

3. Enthusiasm multiplies power. It is that mys- 
terious something, that indefinable quality that forces 
conviction, that makes mediocre ability more successful 
than great talent without it. 

4. Enthusiasm is the genius of sincerity, and truth 
accomplishes no victory without it. 

5. Enthusiasm, like beauty, is a divine gift, and 
yet it can be cultivated. 

6. Success is often due, less to ability, than to 
enthusiasm. 

7. Every great and commanding movement in the 
annals of the world, is the triumph of enthusiasm. 
Nothing great was ever achieved without it. 

8. To be filled with the enthusiasm that wins, your 
work must be to you, your life, your all. 

9. You cannot hope to accomplish much in the 
world, without that compelling enthusiasm which stirs 
your whole being into action. You cannot have this soul- 
energy unless you are in your right place, unless you are 
in love with your employment. 

10. It is hard to discourage an enthusiastic man. 
No matter what objections may be raised, no matter how 
dark the outlook, he believes in his power to transform 
the vision which he alone sees, into a reality. 



259 

ii. Enthusiasm is that secret and harmonious 
spirit, which hovers over the production of genius. 

12. There is little hope of success for the youth 
who starts out in life without enthusiasm. Nothing 
great in art, science, literature, or invention, has ever 
been accomplished without it. A man may possess tal- 
ent, even genius; he may be ever so brilliant and clever; 
he may be popular and entertaining; but, if he lacks this 
divine spark, this vitalizer of human energies, he will 
never achieve anything of importance. He can never 
hope to be a leader of men, to move or largely influence 
others. 

13. Enthusiasm is a spiritual power. It has its 
birth among the higher potencies. You never find true 
enthusiasm in people who grovel on the lower plane of 
being. Its tendency is to uplift. It accomplishes great 
results, where lukewarmness or coldness fails to do any- 
thing. 

14. Enthusiasm lights up a man's whole nature; 
it multiplies his power; it raises whatever ability he has 
to its highest standard. All his faculties come into har- 
mony under its beneficent influence. It is not so much a 
power that drives, as a beckoning hand that leads. 

15. A man, permeated with enthusiasm, has his 
powers of perception heightened, and his vision magni- 
fied, until he sees beauty and charms others cannot dis- 
cern ; which compensate for drudgery, privations, hard- 
ships, and even persecution. 

16. There is no substitute for enthusiasm. It 
makes all the difference between a half heart and a whole 
heart, between signal defeat and splendid victory. 

17. If you are possessed by the divine flame of 
enthusiasm, you are not likely to be chilled by the most 
uncongenial surroundings, or daunted by seemingly in- 
surmountable obstacles. 

18. Patience is not in conflict with enthusiasm. 
The one is co-partner with the other. Neither will get 
very far without the other. Together they are invincible. 



260 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 9. Confidence. 

Confidence is conqueror of men; victorious both over them and 

in them; 
The iron will of one stout heart shall make a thousand quail. 

— Tupper. 

1. There is something sublime in the youth who 
possesses the spirit of boldness, of fearlessness, who has 
absolute confidence in his ability to do and to dare. 

2. As a rule, the man who has a firm, unyielding 
belief in his ability to succeed, will reach the goal of his 
ambition, no matter what obstacles he may encounter. 

3. An infinite benefit comes from forming the habit 
of expecting the best of life for yourself. Do not go 
about with an expression of discontent on your face, 
giving everybody the impression that the good things of 
the world were intended for someone else. 

4. *After a man has once formed a habit of grappling 
with difficulties, there is a certain exhilaration in the 
consciousness of increased power, of being superior to 
obstacles — a pride in possessing strength to transform 
stumbling-blocks into stepping-stones. 

5. Every great inventor, every leader of man, has 
always had a strong belief in himself, and has finally 
succeeded in communicating his confidence, his enthusi- 
asm to others. 

6. The man is fortunate who feels within himself 
the original force and vigor which can do things, who 
does not lean upon others, who does not require crutches 
or assistance, but can play the game alone. 

7. No one will insist on your rights while you 
yourself doubt that you have any. Hold firmly to the 
conviction that you possess the qualities requisite for 
success. Never allow yourself to be a traitor to your 
own cause by undermining your self-confidence. 

8. Rashness is the twin sister of self-confidence. 
It misjudges its strength both of doing and resisting. 

9. Want of confidence, like a rotten foundation, 
racks and brings down whatever may rest on it, be it 
ever so good in itself. 



26 1 

10. Want of confidence is perhaps a greater obsta- 
cle to improvement than is generally imagined. It has 
been said that half the failures in life arise from pulling 
in your horse while he is leaping. 

n. A young man is liked who has respect for his 
employers; and unobtrusive confidence in himself is a 
great support. It makes him pleasant and attentive to 
others. 

12. Self-consciousness is a power of the mind that 
enables it to be aware of itself, to observe its own condi- 
tions and exercises. 

13. Say of nothing that it is beneath you, nor feel 
that anything is beyond your powers. 

14. Men and women who have succeeded in accom- 
plishing great things, have believed in themselves. They 
have had confidence in their ability to do the thing they 
set out to do. 

15. Without firm resolution, without confidence in 
yourself, success is impossible. 

16. You can accomplish little without confidence, 
and to lose confidence in yourself is infinitely worse than 
loss of capital, loss of position, or even loss of health ; 
for an invalid or a person without capital may succeed, 
at least to some extent ; but, when confidence is gone, 
all is gone. 

17. Self-confidence indicates reserve power. It 
shows you feel equal to the occasion. 

18. Self-confidence is the very foundation of all 
accomplishment. 

19. Character gives confidence. 

20. Human nature, in the main, is worthy of con- 
fidence ; men as they go are not prone to fraud and dis- 
honesty. 

21. A man must possess the faculty of winning the 
confidence of other men, and making them his friends, 
if he would be successful in any walk of life. 

22. Have faith in men. The world is full of true, 
upright, and noble men and women. To distrust men 
is to poison your hearts with the bitterness of suspicion. 
Trust men and you will find the bulk of the world trust- 
worthy. 



262 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 10. Faith. 

Nio great deed is done 

By falterers who ask for certainty. 

— George Eliot. 

1. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the 
evidence of things not seen. 

2. You must believe a great many things that you 
do not understand. 

3. Faith has the support of reason and common 
sense, because it is always accompanied with a greater 
or less degree of earnest purpose. 

4. Faith visits you in defeat and disappointment, 
and if you are cast down a thousand times, you are none 
the worse for it. 

5. Faith has to be both evidence and substance. 

6. If you undertake to do a thing your effort and 
success accord with the amount of faith you put into 
the work. 

7. Faith is the earnest of success. 

8. One of the greatest elements in success, is a 
firm faith in your ability to succeed. 

9. Faith always outruns experience. It is progress- 
ive and fearless. 

10. Faith is never so strong that proof does not 
strengthen it. 

11. Faith, unlike confidence, which is based on 
reason, has nothing substantial to back it up against the 
logic of opposition. 

12. Believe firmly that if you do not find a way- 
you can make one, and you will triumph. 

13. There is so much power in faith, that if a man 
be firmly persuaded that he is born to do some day, 
what at the moment seems impossible, it is probable 
that he does it before he dies. 

14. One of the most fatal things in the life of faith 
is discouragement. One of the most helpful is cheer- 
fulness. 



263 

15. If you trust in God and yourself, you can sur- 
mount any obstacle. Do not yield to restless anxiety. 
You must not always be asking what may happen to 
you, but you must advance fearlessly and bravely. 

16. Though you may not apprehend the true mean- 
ing of the discipline of trial through which the best 
have to pass, you must have faith in the completeness of 
the design of which your little individual life forms a 
part. 

17. Implicit faith proves imbecility; yet improb- 
able relations should be skeptically received, not posi- 
tively denied. 

18. Learn to look at the bright side. Keep the sun- 
shine of living faith in the heart. Do not let the shadow 
of discouragement and despondency fall on your path. 

19. Faith is the energy of a loyalty to certain pre- 
dispositions, which you recognize more or less distinct- 
ly as laws of your being. 

20. The trying of your faith develops patience. 

21. There is nothing that faith and striving cannot 
do; take the road and it must lead you to the goal, 
though strewn with difficulties, and cast through pain 
and shade. 

22. Through faith you understand that the world 
was made by the word of God, so that things which are 
seen were not made of things which do appear. 

23. Love is a constraining power; it elevates and 
civilizes all who come under its influence. It indicates 
faith in man, and without faith in man's better nature 
no methods of treatment will avail in improving him. 

24. Never lose faith that matters will come out right 
in the end. 

25. All progress, of the best kind is slow; but to 
'him who works faithfully and in a right spirit, be 

sure that the reward will be vouchsafed in its own good 
time. 

26. If you would succeed up to the limit of your 
possibilities, hold constantly to the belief that you are 
success-organized, and that you will be successful, no 
matter what opposes. 

27. Faith is knowledge, because knowledge is faith. 



264 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 11. Hope. 

Hope, like the glimmering taper's light, 
Adorns and cheers the way; 
And still, as darker grows the night, 
Emits a brighter ray. — Goldsmith. 

1. Nature gives man large hopes, lest he falter 
before reaching the high mark she sets for him. 

2. Hope quickens all the still parts of life, and 
keeps the mind awake in its most remiss and indolent 
hours. It gives habitual serenity and good humor. It 
is a kind of vital heart in the soul, that cheers and 
gladdens it. It makes pain easy and labor pleasant. 

3. The hopeful person is not melancholy, has not 
the blues, looks cheerily forward, expecting something 
bright and glad a little further on, and helps to bring 
the gladness by the very mental attitude which refuses 
to see the clouds in the sky. 

4. Life is what you make it. If you repine at your 
lot and do not strive to surmount the obstacles that 
confront you, you may not hope for any betterment in 
your condition. Hope should be the forerunner of re- 
newed determination and effort. 

5. A strong mind always hopes, and has always 
cause to hope, because it knows the mutability of human 
affairs, and how slight a circumstance may change the 
whole course of events. Such a spirit, too, rests on 
itself; it is not confined to partial views or to one par- 
ticular object. And if at last all should be lost, it has 
saved itself. 

6. The flights of the human mind are not from en- 
joyment to enjoyment, but from hope to hope. 

7. Misfortune has no terrors for hope. She is the 
friend of the rich and the poor. She dawns on every 
eye, crosses every path, holds out her hand to every suf- 
ferer, paints victory on every cloud. Her triumphs are 
grander than those of generals. She does not halt, 
mountains are plains to her. She nerves the shrinking 
heart and fires the languid spirit. 



265 

8. Hope is a flatterer, but the most upright of all 
parasites, for she frequents the poor man's hut, as well 
as the palace of his superiors. 

9. Like a valiant captain in a losing battle, 
hope is ever encouraging man, and never leaves him 
until they both expire together. It is almost as the air 
by which the mind lives. 

10. Hope is the sustainer and inspirer of great 
deeds. 

11. Nothing can compensate for the loss of hope; 
it entirely changes the character. 

12. The power that keeps the world moving is the 
hopefulness of youth. 

13. Hope springs from wisdom; for he who hopes 
strongly has within him the gift of miracles. 

14. Hope is the truest friend and remains with you 
until the last. 

15. Hope is necessary in every condition. The 
miseries of poverty, of sickness, of captivity, would, with- 
out this comfort, be insupportable. 

16. You must be wide-awake, up and doing; your 
best foot forward, your eye keen, your valor aroused, 
your nerves taut, your best powers called into action. 
Then you may have good reasons to hope. 

17. Hope, however deceitful, serves at least to lead 
you to the end of life by an agreeable path. 

18. True hope is based on the energy of character. 

19. He who has health has hope, and he who has 
hope has everything. 

20. Hope is the mainspring of human action. 

21. Hope is essential to effort. Effort soon ceases 
where there is no hope. 

22. Hope is the parent of all effort and endeavor; 
and every gift of noble origin is breathed on by hope's 
perpetual breath. It may be said to be the moral engine 
that moves the world and keeps it in action. 

23. Hope brings rest to the feverish pillow, com- 
fort to the stricken heart, strength to the fainting toiler, 
and turns shadow into sunshine. 

24. Hope for the best, think for the worst, and 
manfully bear whatever happens. 



266 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIII. Part 12. Resolution. 

I dare do all that may become a man: 
Who dares do more is none. — Shakespeare. 

1. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform 
without fail what you resolve. 

2. He who resolves on any great end, by that 
very resolution has scaled the greatest barriers to it. 

3. The resolute qualities of human character have 
always been admired ; the opposite have met with de- 
rision and contempt. 

4. All experience of life serves to prove that the 
impediments thrown in the way of human advancement 
may, for the most part, be overcome by steady good con- 
duct, honest zeal, activity, perseverance and above all, 
by a determined resolution to surmount difficulties, and 
stand manfully against misfortune. 

5. Stoutly assert your divine right to be a man, to 
hold your head up and look the world in the face ; step 
bravely to the front, whatever opposes, and the world 
will make way for you. 

6. You are not to stick to your resolve whether or 
no, but having made up your mind that what you are 
to do is right and reasonable, you are to do it. 

7. Whatever you choose to be, resolve that you 
will be the very best it is possible to be. 

8. The man who accomplishes things, who achieves 
results, must be a man of positive force, a man with a 
programme, who marks out his course and goes straight 
to his goal. 

9. No one can succeed who has not a fixed and 
resolute purpose in his mind, and an unwavering faith 
that he can accomplish his purpose. 

10. Resolutions, however good, are useless without 
the energy necessary to carry them out. 

11. Set your face like a flint against all the com- 
bined influences that will be brought to bear on you, 
neither turning to the right or the left, never faltering, 
never fainting, but resolutely and bravely pushing on 



26y 

to the goal, and victory will crown your well chosen life 
purpose. 

12. To think you are able is almost to be so ; to de- 
termine upon attainment is frequently attainment itself. 
Thus earnest resolution has often seemed to have about 
it almost a savor of omnipotence. 

13. Never relinquish your hold on a possible suc- 
cess, if mortal strength or brains are adequate to the 
occasion. 

14. Resolution is mighty, when backed by uncon- 
querable will to carry it out. 

15. A firm resolution can make realities out of pos- 
sibilities. 

16. The way will be found by a resolute will. 

17. The truest wisdom is a resolute determination. 

18. Your success depends on holding your ground 
firmly ; yielding none and adding when you can. 

19. Men and women who have accomplished great 
things have invariably been dead in earnest. 

20. The resolute spirit is always a healthy and 
happy spirit; working cheerfully itself and stimulating 
others to work. It confers a dignity on even the most 

2T. Firmness of purpose is master of the situation, 
ordinary occasion. 

22. Firmness is only a virtue when it accompanies 
the most perfect wisdom. 

23. What you need to cultivate is a tenacity of 
purpose that will not quail, nor turn aside, — a courage 
that, in emergencies, dares to separate from the crowd, 
— that never recognizes defeat, and will not stay de- 
feated. 

24. Resolution and success reciprocally produce 
each other. 

25. Success is a question of indomitable resolution, 
and power of rigid application. These are the only sub- 
stitutes for capital. 

26. The strong-willed, intelligent, persistent man 
will find a way or make a way where, in the nature of 
things, a way can be found or made. 

27. They can who think they can. 



268 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 1. Preparation. 

His joy is not that he has won the crown, 

But that the power to win the crown is his. — Anon. 

1. There is a preparative process required of every- 
one who wishes to rise above his environments. If he 
is not willing to submit to the drill, he cannot expect 
promotion. 

2. In all matters, before beginning, a diligent 
preparation should be made. 

3. The days of youth should be spent in prepara- 
tion ; but, most important, it should be preparation of the 
right sort. You should early make up your mind what 
you want to do, and then prepare for that with all your 
heart. 

4. Forethought is a necessary adjunct to thorough 
preparation, and he who fully considers every detail, 
the minute as well as the prominent ones, will always 
stand a better chance of profiting by good fortune, or 
of being less injured by bad or adverse circumstances. 

5. Active and sympathetic contact with man in the 
transactions of daily life is a better preparation for 
healthy, robust action, than any amount of meditation 
and seclusion. 

6. Hurry, in a few instances, may make wealth, and 
it may again win fame and glory, but it cannot make 
culture or refinement. It may gloss over the character 
with a fine veneer of culture that will deceive for a time, 
but there is nothing deep and abiding in it. 

7. Take enough time to prepare properly for your 
life work. 

8. To be prepared, to be honest, to be true — this 
is to merit success ; and, when really and truly merited, 
it is given. 

9. Unless you are ready for the chance, the oppor- 
tunity will do you no good ; it will simply make you 
ridiculous. 

10. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper 
must be its foundations. 



269 

ii. You can not succeed, until you have mastered 
the thing you have to do. 

12. You must learn how to do the thing you try to 
do, otherwise you must fail. 

13. Everything that you learn, is the mastery of 
a difficulty; and the mastery of one helps to the mastery 
of others. 

14. Hard work and constant study will bring you 
into a higher and better life. 

15. No man was ever numbered among the suc- 
cessful ones, unless he was waiting and prepared for 
fortune when she knocked at his door. She has never yet 
been known to wait for any one to prepare himself for 
her company. 

16. Every great work is the result of vast prepara- 
tory training. 

17. A great occasion is valuable to you, just in pro- 
portion as you have educated yourself to make use of it. 

18. He who builds without broad and firm foun- 
dations, is almost sure to find that he has built uselessly 
and without profit. 

19. It is the beginning of work to prepare for its 
performance. 

20. Patient preparation is permanent power. 

21. Have a grand object always in view, but do not 
overlook the lesser ones necessary to master, before you 
attain it. 

2.2.. He who completes a job in his head before he 
puts hand to it, becomes a master. 

23. It is the man of great reserve who achieves 
great results. It is the reserve that wins in life's battles. 

24. Reserves which carry you through great emer- 
gencies, are the result of long working and long waiting. 

25. The way to shorten the way to success, is to 
take plenty of time to lay in your reserve power. 

26. One reason why so many fail, is because they 
never prepare for success. 



270 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 2. Start Right. 

Yet nerve thy spirit to the proof, 
And blench not at thy chosen lot; 

The timid good may stand aloof, 

The sage may frown — yet faint thou not. 

— Bryant. 

1. The very first step a young man takes for him- 
self, is the most important of all. If he would be right 
all the time, he must start right. 

2. What is put into the first of life, is put into the 
whole of life. First steps lead to the last. 

3. The first step taken in the right direction, is 
really the important one. It may seem a trifling thing, 
a little thing, but it is not. 

4. Do not make the mistake of scorning to start 
at the bottom. He is sure to rise in life who works his 
way up step by step, and he is sure to fall who begins 
at the top. 

5. Take the first step carefully, and then, what- 
ever you do in life, do with honesty of purpose. You 
can at least do right. 

6. Make a start, not at the top, but at the very 
bottom ; doing whatever you can get a chance to do, 
taking very great pains about your work, and bothering 
less about your pay, than about doing the very best every 
time to earn it. 

7. You must fortify yourself at the beginning with 
push, pluck, and self-reliance ; for you will have to en- 
counter occasional skirmishes, taste the bitterness of 
temporary defeat, endure wounds, sickening disappoint- 
ments, and soul-haunting temptations. 

8. The best way for you to begin is, first, by get- 
ting a position ; second, keeping your mouth shut ; third, 
observing ; fourth, being faithful ; fifth, making your em- 
ployer think that he would be lost without you ; and 
sixth, being polite. 

9. It is better not to fail to begin with. To fail 
is to injure your own record and the interests of those 
you serve. 



. 271 

io. Half the energy of life is wasted in not know- 
ing what to do first. 

11. Success is dependent on starting from a correct 
principle of action. 

12. The manner in which you look at your first 
employment is of fundamental importance. 

13. One of the first lessons of life, is to learn how 
to get victory out of defeat. 

14. When you are ready, take whatever you can 
get to do, and work at it with all your might. 

15. Start with the fixed determination that every 
statement you make shall be the exact truth ; that every 
promise you make, shall be redeemed to the letter; that 
every appointment shall be kept with the strictest faith- 
fulness and with full regard for other men's time ; hold 
your reputation as a priceless treasure ; feel that the 
eyes of the world are on you, and that you must not 
deviate a hair's breadth from the truth and right. 

16. Be sure you are right, then go ahead. 

17. To make something good and noble of yourself, 
is the best start in life you can have, and, in fact, the 
only start you need. 

18. That man lives twice, that lives the first of life 
well. 

19. Truth and courage should be your watchwords, 
when starting out in life. 

20. The most important work is that which is be- 
ing done by young men and women, who are at the out- 
set of their careers ; for on them, — on the foundations 
which they lay, — will largely depend the progress of 
civilization in the years to come. 

21. Lay the foundations of a character broad and 
deep. 

22. First consider what it is you are about to do, 
and then inquire of your own nature whether you can 
carry it out. 

23. To understand your business, you must start 
at the bottom and work yourself up. To do so, you must 
commence when young, when you learn quickly and 
may be led. 



272 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 3. Purpose. 

There gleams a star of bright, unsullied rays, 

Which naught can quench or dim; it ever shows 

Its beacon light to all who set their gaze 

Above each varying, fleeting wind that blows. 

The star of Purpose! — Ada M. Pitts. 

1. In order to have a reasonably successful life, you 
should make reasonable plans, and then set out to ex- 
ecute them with a purpose steady and fixed, not to be 
yielded until it is plain that they cannot be executed. 

2. What you need is something to work for. When 
you have that, you are very nearly happy. 

3. Keep the purpose honest and clean. 

4. The first requisite of success in life, is an earnest 
and noble purpose, and the second the power of adapta- 
tion. 

5. The power of a well-defined aim or a great pur- 
pose to unify life is marvelous. An all-absorbing pur- 
pose gathers up all the scattered rays of your ability and 
focuses them on one point. 

6. It matters not how rich the materials you have 
gleaned from the years of your study and toil in youth, 
if you go out into life with no well-defined idea of your 
future work, there is no happy conjunction of cir- 
cumstances that will arrange them into an imposing 
structure, and give it magnificent proportions. 

7. There is no road to success but through a clear, 
strong purpose. A purpose underlies character, culture, 
position, attainment of whatever sort. 

8. A great purpose is cumulative; and, like a great 
magnet, it attracts all that is kindred along the stream 
of life. 

9. People always believe in a man with a fixed 
purpose, and will help him twice as quickly as one who is 
loosely or indifferently attached to his vocation, and 
liable at any time to make a change, or to fail. 

10. There is only one motive that can develop the 
highest manhood ; and that is, the constant determina- 



273 

tion to make the most possible of yourself, and to ren- 
der the greatest possible amount of service to others. 

ii. A strong purpose holds you down to your task, 
and shuts out a thousand temptations to wander away 
from your legitimate sphere. 

12. A clear, strong purpose must precede any suc- 
cess, for purpose underlies everything. 

13. You must resolve with an energy that knows 
no restraint, on the accomplishment of some definite 
thing in life, and then never turn a hair's breadth from 
your purpose, under any consideration. 

14. A determined purpose in life, and a steady ad- 
herence to it through all disadvantages, are indispensa- 
ble conditions to success. 

15. A healthy, definite purpose, is a remedy for a 
thousand ills which attend aimless lives. 

16. An aim takes the drudgery out of life, scatters 
doubts to the winds, and clears up the gloomiest creeds. 

17. Discontent and dissatisfaction flee before a defi- 
nite purpose. 

18. A life which has no definite aim, is sure to be 
frittered away in empty and purposeless dreams. 

19. A strong, vigorous purpose, held firmly and 
persistently, is the first step toward progress. Without 
this, there can be nothing but mediocrity or failure. 

20. The man without a purpose, never leaves his 
mark on the world. He has no individuality; he is ab- 
sorbed in the mass, lost in the crowd, weak, wavering, 
incompetent. 

21. Purpose, besides being honest, must be inspired 
by sound principles, and pursued with undeviating ad- 
herence to truth, integrity, and uprightness. 

2,2,. A strong purpose does not wait for opportuni- 
ties ; it makes them. It has a magnetic power that draws 
to itself whatever is kindred, and enlists the support of 
all the faculties. It helps you to become master of your- 
self. 

23. The voice, the dress, the look, the very motions 
of a person define and alter, when he or she begins to 
live for a purpose. 



274 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 4. Single Purpose. 

The man who seeks one thing- in life, and but one, 
May hope to achieve it before life be done; 
But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes, 
Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows, 
A harvest of barren regrets. — Owen Meredith. 

i. The magic of a single aim has changed the face 
of the world. It has bridged rivers, tunneled moun- 
tains, built cities ; it has accomplished everything that 
has been accomplished. 

2. If you ever mean to be a living power in the 
world, you must form a definite purpose and stick to 
that one thing, or you will not reach the pinnacle of 
success. 

3. No man, no matter how humble his origin, that 
devotes himself with singleness of purpose to the in- 
terests of his home and his country, can fail to receive 
recognition. 

4. There is no grander sight in the world than that 
of a young man, fired with a great purpose, dominated 
with one unwavering aim. He is bound to win. The 
world stands aside to let him pass. He does not have 
half as much opposition to overcome as the nerveless, 
undecided man. 

5. Do not dally with your purpose. Not many 
things indifferently but one thing supremely. 

6. All who have accomplished great things have 
had a purpose running through their lives. Each has 
had the single eye which sees but one thing; the un- 
daunted will which cannot be bent from its course. 

7. Have a fixed purpose and stick to it. Around 
this, you will soon find your dormant ideas, hopes, and 
possibilities anchored. You will find that a resolute aim 
takes the place of aimless reverie. 

8. A man never struggled hard and faithfully for 
years, toward a single aim, who did not, at least approx- 
imately, attain his object. 

9. Have a definite and distinct object, or else your 
vital energies will be wasted, and your most industrious 
days will be recklessly squandered. 



275 

io. Man was made, not to do two things at once, 
but to direct his whole powers to one thing at a time, 
and he has ever excelled most when he has followed this 
law of his nature. 

ii. The highest excellence is seldom attained by 
one person in more than one vocation. 

12. It is the man with one, unwavering aim, who 
cuts his way through opposition and forges to the front. 

13. One affection, one object, must be supreme. 
Everything else will be neglected and done with a half- 
heart. You may have subordinate plans, but you can 
have but one supreme aim, and from this all others will 
take their character. 

14. He who wishes to fulfill his mission, must be 
a man of one idea ; that is, of one great, overmastering 
purpose, overshadowing all his aims, and guiding and 
controlling his entire life. 

15. A single aim, firmly and steadfastly held, no 
matter what opposes, trains the mind to facility and 
action, and brings efficiency, contentment and happiness. 

16. The roads leading to distinction, in separate 
pursuits diverge ; and the nearer you approach the one, 
the further you recede from the other. 

17. Almost all great men have been men of one 
idea. Not because they were incapable of harboring 
more than one, but because, having selected some one 
object as worthy of attainment, they gave themselves 
up to it solely. 

18. The constant changing of your occupation is 
fatal to all success. 

19. It is the man who does one thing well, that 
comes to the front. 

20. It is doubtful whether a man can perform very 
great service to mankind, who is not permeated with a 
great purpose, with an overmastering idea. 

21. Success in one line does not imply success in 
another. 

22. Make up your mind what you think, everything 
considered, would be most desirable for you to do, and 
stick to it until you win. 



2j6 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 5. Appropriateness. 

Whether with reason or with instinct blest, 
Know, all enjoy that power which suits them best; 
To bliss alike by that direction tend, 
And find the means proportion'd to their end. — Pope. 

1. Civilization will mark its highest tide when 
every man has chosen his proper work. 

2. Every individual, no matter what his natural 
gifts, is most efficient in the work of life, when all his 
forces act together harmoniously under the control of 
intelligence. 

3. There is no doubt that every person has a spe- 
cial adaptation for his peculiar part in life. 

4. If you are in a business which you thoroughly 
like, which harmonizes with your tastes, and, in a word, 
in which you find yourself at home, stick to it; learn it 
thoroughly. 

5. A youth who finds his true work, who feels all 
of his faculties tugging away at a life-purpose, rarely 
goes wrong. 

6. It is possible that you may, at the outset of 
life, mistake your calling; in that case, the sooner you 
change it, the better. It is no discredit to you, if you 
perceive you are in the wrong groove, try to get into 
another. 

7. If you do not succeed in what you attempt, after 
trying your level best ; if you do not feel interested in 
your occupation or profession, and enthusiastic in regard 
to whatever concerns it, you may be quite sure that you 
are out of place, and you should never rest until you find 
your niche in the world. 

8. When you try to do that for which you are un- 
fitted, you are not working along the line of your 
strength, but of your weakness ; your will-power and 
enthusiasm become demoralized. 

9. The place for the average man, is where he can 
use his strength and intelligence to the best advantage, 
and enjoy doing it. 



277 

10. Some men have more adaptability than others, 
but most have some special bent toward a certain kind 
of work, where they can be worth a great deal more than 
anywhere else. 

ii. A man out of his place is but half a man; his 
very nature is perverted. He is working against his in- 
clinations. 

12. You should take your stand where your char- 
acter finds the most congenial footing. 

13. Take the place and attitude which belong to 
you and all men will acquiesce. 

14. Be what nature intended you for, and you will 
succeed ; be anything else, and you will be ten thousand 
times worse than nothing. 

15. You are doomed to perpetual inferiority and 
disappointment, if out of your place, and get your living 
by your weakness instead of by your strength. 

16. You have not found your place until all your 
faculties are roused, and your whole nature consents 
and approves of the work you are doing. 

17. You will never succeed while smarting under 
the drudgery of your occupation ; if you are constantly 
haunted with the idea that you could succeed in some- 
thing else. 

18. If you are careful and conscientious, you will 
be likely to get hold of the sort of work that you are best 
fitted to perform. 

19. Somewhere, out in the world, there is a place 
for you, and no one can fill it but yourself. You alone 
must assume the responsibility of performing the work 
committed into your hands by the infinite Creator. 

20. Those who have no special bent, as a rule pos- 
sess certain traits and tendencies which, if carefully fos- 
tered, will assist in finding their right places in the 
world. 

21. Mental alertness will enable you to quickly 
exchange a career for which you are not fitted for one in 
which success will await 3^our efforts, provided you are 
made of the right sort of material. 

22. Your wishes are presentiments of your capabil- 
ities. 



278 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 6. Time. 

Count that day lost whose low descending" sun 
Views from thy hand no worthy action done. — Saniford. 

1. Time is requisite for the execution of all com- 
prehensive plans of action. 

2. Think it a great fault not to employ your time 
either for the good of your soul, or improvement of your 
understanding, health or estate ; and as these are the 
most pleasant pastimes, so it will make you a cheerful 
old age, which is as necessary for you to design as to 
make provision to support the infirmities, which decay 
of strength brings. 

3. He that is choice of his time, will also be choice 
of his company and choice of his actions. 

4. You will never find time for anything; if you 
want time, you must make it. 

5. If you would make time valuable, beware of low 
and trifling pursuits. Do nothing of which you will ever 
be ashamed. 

6. Set a high price on your leisure moments. Prop- 
erly expended they will procure for you a stock of great 
thoughts — thoughts that will fill, stir and invigorate and 
expand your soul. 

7. Many of the greatest men of history, earned 
their fame outside of their regular occupations, in odd 
bits of time which most people squander. 

8. Each moment brings you to the threshold of 
some new opportunity. 

9. Every hour in your life has its own special work 
possible for it, and for no other hour within the allotted 
span of years, and once gone it will not return. 

10. Often it is only for a moment the favorable in- 
stant is presented. You miss it, and months and years 
are lost. 

11. There are critical moments, in every successful 
life, when, if the mind hesitate or a nerve flinch, all will 
be lost. 

12. Waste of time means waste of energy, waste of 



279 

vitality, waste of character in dissipation. It means bad 
companions, bad habits. It means the waste of oppor- 
tunities which will never come back. Beware how you 
kill time, for all your future lives in it. 

13. There is no proportion between spaces of time 
in importance nor in value. A stray, unthought of five 
minutes, may contain the event of a life. 

14. Time is an element that must enter into all real 
education, sound character, and enduring reputation. 

15. Time is gold; throw not one minute away, but 
place each one to account. 

16. Pay no moment but in purchase of its worth. 

17. Time never works ; it eats, and undermines, and 
rots, and rusts, and destroys. But it never works. It 
only gives you an opportunity to work. 

18. Let no moment pass, until you have extracted 
from it every possibility. 

19. Thrift of time will repay you, in after life, be- 
yond your most sanguine dreams; and waste of it, will 
make you dwindle alike in intellectual and moral stature, 
beyond your darkest reckonings. 

20. Lost wealth may be regained by industry and 
economy, lost knowledge by study and reflection, lost 
health by temperance and medicine, but lost time is gone 
forever. 

21. Life, however short, is still made shorter by 
waste of time. 

22. There is not an hour of youth but is trembling 
with destinies — not a moment of which, once passed, the 
apointed work can ever be done again. 

23. Some young men will make more out of the 
odds and ends of opportunities, which many carelessly 
throw away, than others will get out of a whole lifetime. 
Every person they meet, every circumstance of the day, 
must add something to their store of useful knowledge 
or personal power. 

24. One hour a day, withdrawn from frivolous pur- 
suits, and profitably employed, would enable any man 
of ordinary capacity to master a complete science, or 
make an ignorant man a well-informed man in ten years. 

25. Great men have ever been misers of moments. 



28o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 7. Application. 

We have not wings; we cannot soar; 

But we have feet to scale and climb, 
By slow degrees, by more and more, 

The cloudy summits of our time. 

— Longfellow. 

1. The best sort of character cannot be formed 
without effort. There needs the exercise of constant 
self-watchfulness, self-discipline, and self-control. There 
may be much faltering, stumbling and temporary defeat ; 
difficulties and temptations manifold to be battled with 
and overcome ; but if the spirit be strong and the heart 
be upright, no one need despair of ultimate success. 

2. Those who succeed in life are not the geniuses. 
They are those who apply themselves to whatever busi- 
ness or profession they undertake with all their hearts, 
and by patient, plodding work, backed up by good 
health and good habits, who succeed. Even on the lowest 
ground — that of personal enjoyment — constant useful 
occupation is necessary. 

3. Be master of your calling and do not let it mas- 
ter you. Application and assiduity must not sink into 
slavery. 

4. The secret of every man's success, who has work- 
ed his way from poverty to affluence, is that he applied 
himself to legitimate business early and late, ignoring 
all outside interferences, paying no attention whatever 
to the many annoyances encountered. 

5. History points to the fact that men of the most 
commanding abilities, have been the most persevering 
workers. 

6. Men who have most moved the world, have not 
been so much men of genius, strictly so-called, as men 
of intense mediocre abilities, and untiring perseverance; 
not so often the gifted, of naturally bright and shining 
qualities, as those who have applied themselves diligent- 
ly to their work, in whatever line that might lie. 

7. Application in the most severe form, and hon- 
esty, are the means by which true success is attained. 



28l 

No matter what you do, do it to your utmost. Do it 
to the very best of your individual ability. 

8. It is because application to business teaches 
method most effectually, that it is so useful as an edu- 
cator of character. 

9. If you had the genius of all great men, past, pres- 
ent, and to come, you could do nothing well, without 
application and perseverance. 

10. To be successful you must be master of your 
subject, such mastery being attainable only through con- 
tinuous application and study. 

11. Intense application, is needed always, in the 
creation and maintenance of a business position. 

12. It is a great advantage to be employed in the 
discharge of some daily mechanical duty — some regular 
routine of work, that renders steady application neces- 
sary. 

13. Power lies not in the theory but in application. 

14. The man who moves about, emulates and keeps 
in touch with other men and things, blunders over or 
runs across, accidentally, more success than ever comes 
to the man who sits and waits for it. 

15. All progress, of the best sort, is slow; but to 
him who works faithfully and zealously, the reward will 
doubtless, be vouchsafed in good time. 

16. You have but to glance at the biographies of 
great men, to find that the most distinguished inventors, 
artists, thinkers and workers of all kinds, owe their suc- 
cess, in a great measure, to their indefatigable industry 
and application. 

17. The knowledge, which fits a man for eminence 
in any profession or calling, is not acquired without 
patient, long-continued and earnest application. 

18. Stick to your business, if you want to succeed 
in it, but do not stick too closely; that is, do not dig so 
deep and narrow a furrow that you cannot see over the 
top of it, or climb out if necessary. 

19. You can work yourself up to a position of honor 
and usefulness, from almost any beginning. 



282 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 8. Details. 

Sum up at night what thou hast done by day; 
And in the morning what thou hast to do. 
Dress and undress thy soul. Watch the decay 
And growth of it. — Herbert. 

1. It is only by dwelling on details, that you slowly 
master the whole. 

2. Be careful of details, as they are the mortar 
which binds the great walls of your operations. 

3. All men who have accomplished success in life, 
have been conspicuous for minute attention to details, 
as well as for general scope and vigor. 

4. Attention to details, makes a business man, or 
any other kind of a man. 

5. Go to the bottom if you would get to the top. 
Be master of your calling in all its details. 

6. Nothing is small which concerns your business. 
Master every detail. 

7. The great commander leaves nothing to chance, 
but provides for every emergency. He condescends to 
apparently trivial details. 

8. You should not come to the conclusion that de- 
tails are beneath your notice, or that you are less bril- 
liant in the great things of life, because you pay atten- 
tion to the little things. 

9. The better you are acquainted with the details 
of the business in which you are engaged, the greater 
is your chance of success. In truth, if you are ignorant 
of these, you have no right to expect success. 

10. Business is fact, and satisfactory results are 
dependent on careful and conscientious regard for details, 
and exact knowledge. 

11. There is only one way to fit yourself to fill 
the high places in the business world. That is to begin 
at the bottom and work your way up. In no other man- 
ner can you acquire that familiarity with the details of 
your business, which the head of a great concern must 
have, if you are to manage it successfully. 



283 

12. It is the result of everyday experience, that 
steady attention to matters of detail lies at the root of 
human progress. 

13. Your life is centered in the sphere of common 
duties. 

14. You need not hope to rise above your present 
situation, if you suffer small things to pass by unim- 
proved. 

15. To know all about a thing, is to know how to 
deal with it under all circumstances. 

16. He who would get up in the world, who is 
anxious to make the most of himself, regards nothing as 
trifling. 

17. The end of doing this little thing well, is the 
beginning of doing that other, more complicated, task. 
And surely there is inspiration in this thought. 

18. Let all your things have their places ; let each 
part of your business have its time. 

19. As nothing great can be accomplished without 
industry and an earnest purpose, so nothing great can be 
accomplished without order. The one is indispensable 
to the other, and they go hand in hand, as co-workers in 
your elevation. 

20. To see in the doing of some simple duty, not 
merely the fulfillment of a task, but a means of growth, 
an experience with an end beyond itself, is to invest it 
with dignity and hopeful interest. 

21. Never mind your position. Whatever it may 
be, try to fill it. The duties which you have to perform 
may seem trivial ; but because it is a small position, is no 
reason why you should be a small man. You may be 
big inside if you are small outside. 

22. A job slighted, because it is apparently unim- 
portant, leads to habitual neglect, so that men degener- 
ate, insensibly, into bad workmen. 

23. There are many things invincible in their col- 
lective capacity, and in a state of union, which may 
gradually be overcome, when they are separated. 

24. It is the petty annoyances of life, ever present, 
to be met and conquered afresh every day, that try 
most severely the metal of which you are made. 



284 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 9. Determination. 

True fortitude is seen in great exploits 

That justice warrants, and that wisdom guides; 

All else is towering frenzy and distraction. — Addison. 

1. You must be fired by a determination which 
knows no defeat, which cares not for hunger or ridicule, 
which spurns hardships and laughs at want and disaster. 

2. A determination to accomplish something, ob- 
stacles or no obstacles; a firm resolution to make a way 
if no way is open, is an indication of ability to succeed. 
But the determination must come first. 

3. Determination or fixity of purpose, has a great 
moral bearing on your success, for it leads others to feel 
confidence in you, and this is everything. 

4. He who is fired with indomitable determination 
to succeed, and is willing to put forth all his force and 
energy to climb to the top, is the one who is in demand. 

5. You must temper determination with discretion, 
and support it with knowledge and common sense, or it 
will only lead you to defeat. 

6. As soon as you have determined what is most 
proper for you to do, you must steadily perform it, what- 
ever exertion it may cost you. 

7. The successful man, who brings things to pass, 
grows stronger and more determined when the way looks 
darkest. Instead of becoming discouraged, as the ob- 
stacles which bar his progress grow more and more for- 
midable, he arouses himself to meet, and finally overcome 
them. He does not waste his time and energies in trying 
to evade or go around obstructions; he plows his way 
through them. 

8. If you have an intense determination to suc- 
ceed in the course you have marked out for yourself, — 
and you work for this purpose early and late, so that you 
cannot be turned from your course no matter what 
tempts you, — success will sooner or later come to you, 
if your habits are good. 

9. Defeat to the determined man, is nothing, it 



285 

only gives him new power. It is no use to oppose him ; 
this only doubles his determination and trebles his ex- 
ertions. Dangers and hardships only increase his 
courage. No matter what comes to him, — sickness, 
poverty, imprisonment even, — he never turns his eye 
from his work. 

10. The determination to be your own helper, is 
the secret of individual development and strength. 

n. No tyranny of circumstances can permanently 
imprison a determined will. 

12. There are some lives that speak more eloquent- 
ly than words. They inspire, they help, they prove that 
the world makes way for a determined man. 

13. You should be able to face a duty or a trial. 
Walk up to it with determination in every look and 
action. 

14. Great tenacity of purpose is the only thing that 
will carry you over the hard places, which appear in 
every career, to ultimate triumph. It gives credit and 
moral support in a thousand ways. 

15. Invincible determination, and a right nature, 
are the levers that move the world. 

16. A vacillating man, no matter what his abilities, 
is invariably pushed aside in the race of life by the man 
of determined will. 

17. Sometimes young men are born to wealth or 
commanding the power of influential friendships, and 
find a start in the world comparatively easy ; occasionally 
there is a genius, but neither genius nor wealth will make 
position without the qualities of persistence and in- 
dustry. 

18. Determined men are not likely to fail. They 
carry in their very pluck, grit, and determination, the 
conviction and assurance of success. 

19. What are stumbling blocks to the weak and 
vacillating, are but stepping-stones and victories to the 
strong and determined. 

. — 20. The barriers have not yet been erected, which 
/ can shut out from success the determined man or 
: woman. 



286 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part. 10. Will. 

Strong souls within the present live, 

The future veiled, the past forgot; 

Grasping what is, with hands of steel, 

They bind what shall be to their will. — Lewis Morris. 

1. It is in the exercise of the will that merit or 
demerit attaches to character. 

2. In the world of action will is power; persistent 
will, with circumstances not altogether unfavorable, is 
victory; even in the face of circumstances altogether 
unfavorable, persistence will carve out a way to unex- 
pected success. 

3. A close connection exists between morality and 
will, the finest character in the world being valueless 
if it does not include a strong and vigorous will. 

4. Man is what he really wills. His whole being 
is nothing else but the ultimate product of a will acting 
in him. 

5. Nothing is impossible, but everything possible, 
for the man who can will, who knows his goal, and 
moves straight for that and for that alone. 

6. What men want is not talent, it is purpose; in 
other words, not the power to achieve, but the will to 
labor. 

7. A resolute will is needful, not only for the per- 
formance of difficult duties, but in order to go promptly, 
energetically, and with self-possession, through the thou- 
sand difficult things which come in almost everybody's 
way. 

8. The man of strong will stamps power on his 
actions. His energetic perseverence becomes habitual. 
He gives a tone to the company in which he is, to the 
society in which he lives, and even to the nation in 
which he is born. 

9. If the sense of duty be strong, and the course 
of action clear, the courageous will, upheld by the con- 
science, enables a man to proceed on his course bravely, 



287 

and to accomplish his purposes in the face of all opposi- 
tion and difficulty. 

10. Success in life is dependent largely on the will 
power, and whatever weakens or impairs it diminishes 
success. 

ii. Will power usually annihilates fate. Even 
brains are secondary to will, or a determination to suc- 
ceed at all hazards. 

12. Iron will and persistent industry, are the best 
conquerors of ill luck. 

13. It is of the utmost importance that attention 
should be directed to the improvement and strengthen- 
ing of the will ; for without this there can neither be 
independence, nor firmness, nor individuality of charac- 
ter. Without it you cannot give truth its proper force, 
nor save yourself from being machines in the hands of 
worthless and designing men. 

14. The will, which is the central force of charac- 
ter, must be trained to habits of decision — otherwise it 
will neither be able to resist evil, nor to follow good. 

15. Will power is necessary to success, and, other 
things being equal, the greater the will power the greater 
and more complete the success. 

16. He who has a strong will, moulds the world to 
himself, 

17. Conscience sets a man on his feet, while his 
will holds him upright. 

18. Your best protection is your own will. 

19. There is no faculty more susceptible to train- 
ing, none which responds more readily to drill, than 
the will power. No faculty can do more for you in 
forming habits which bless or curse. It holds your suc- 
cess or failure in its grasp, your happiness or misery. 

20. Will makes the man and controls the circum- 
stances that elevate him in character, distinction or 
wealth. Education and environment are only factors. 

21. Strong men, men of iron will, men of push and 
enterprise, are very apt to have things their own way. 

22. Whether you work for fame, for love, for mon- 
ey, or for anything else, work your hands and heart and 
brain. Say I will, and some day you will conquer. 



288 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XIV. Part 11. Endeavor. 

Action, strong effort forever, — this is the life of our time; 
This is the heart-throb of Manhood, the pulsing of purpose 
divine. — Robert Macay. 

1. You are the sum of your endeavors. 

2. The principle of action is too powerful for any 
circumstance to resist. It clears the way, and elevates 
itself above every object, above fortune and misfortune, 
good and evil. 

3. It is true of every scholar with the art he studies, 
of every apprentice with his trade, of every man in busi- 
ness — doing is the one condition of truly knowing. 

4. Use develops, and disuse retards and destroys. 

5. The real merit is not in the success but in the 
endeavor. 

6. Man owes his growth chiefly to that active striv- 
ing of the will, that encounter with difficulty, which is 
called effort ; and it is astonishing to find how often re- 
sults apparently impracticable are thus made possible. 

7. The storehouse of opportunity is open to all, 
and everything necessary for support and comfort can 
be procured through effort. 

8. The desire must ripen into purpose and effort ; 
and one energetic attempt is worth a thousand aspira- 
tions. 

9. Existence is the privilege of effort, and when 
that privilege is met like a man, opportunities to suc- 
ceed along the line of your aptitude will come faster 
than you can use them. 

10. No effort is too dear which helps you along 
the line of your proper career. 

11. Honest, earnest human endeavor tends to 
health of body, mind and soul. 

12. You must have a chief purpose or end clearly 
apprehended by the intellect, capable of rousing all your 
feeling, and thus stimulating the will to grand and sus- 
tained effort. 



289 

13. To be successful you must needs be somewhat 
aggressive. Not unamiable, but amiability must be but- 
tressed round and bolstered up by a great strength of 
will and a resolute determination not to yield an inch of 
ground once honestly gained. 

14. The man who has not fought his way up to his 
own loaf, and does not bear the scars of desperate con- 
flict, does not know the highest meaning of success. 

15. You may have intelligence and penetration, pro- 
found knowledge of men and things; but without force, 
your learning remains unprofitable, and your best idea 
but an unproductive seed. 

16. Success is not measured by what a man accom- 
plishes, but by the opposition he has encountered, and 
the courage with which he has maintained the struggle. 

17. Victories that are easy are cheap. Those only 
are worth having which come as the result of hard fight- 
ing. 

18. Notwithstanding all the difference in the nat- 
ural gifts of men, by which some are elevated to eminence 
and others kept in obscurity, or some tend to vice and 
others to virtue, it is the indomitable will and industry 
that some men exhibit, that gains for them their distinc- 
tion. 

19. Diligently and earnestly you must labor, or you 
cannot stand side by side, in after years, with the men 
who have become distinguished for the important services 
they have rendered their fellow men. 

20. If earnestness does not put vitality into what 
you do, your listlessness may be a stumbling block which, 
perhaps, will influence others to lead careless and aimless 
lives. 

21. Produce! Were it but the pitifulest, infinitesi- 
mal fraction of a product, produce it. Whatsoever your 
hands finds to do, do it with all your might. 

22. The story of the race is crowded with examples 
of the power of talent, industry, determination, and per- 
severance to conquer very great difficulties and misfor- 
tunes. 



290 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 
Book XIV. Part 12. The Present. 

Work for the good that is nighest; 

Dream not of greatness afar: 
That glory is ever the highest 

Which shines upon men as they are. — Punshon. 

1. It is very important, while planning for the 
future, to beware how you slight the now of life. This 
is the only time of which you are sure. You should use 
it, not with a prodigal's waste or a miser's stint, but with 
a wise determination to make every day yield something 
to the sum of your happiness and highest welfare. 

2. Your truest wealth is lying, doubtless, at your 
very feet, awaiting only the stalwart arm and dauntless 
will to seek and find. In yourself and in the homely sur- 
roundings of today, lie hid the treasures for which, else- 
where, you shall seek in vain. 

3. Nothing ought to be more inspiring than the 
thought that possibly just before you, in the dim and 
unforseen tomorrow, whose voice is even now faintly 
calling to you through the lattice of today, awaits the 
great opportunity of your life. 

4. Remember that you are building up character 
every day, every hour. The public are scrutinizing it all 
the time, watching to see how you are building. 

5. It is the outcome of every day's work that 
inspires you, and forms the future, and nothing else. 

6. He who is eager to be a great and noble man in 
the future, must in the present be great and noble in 
thought, as well as in deed. 

7. The present is the raw material out of which you 
make whatever you will. 

8. Act well at the moment, and you have performed 
a good action to all eternity. 

9. The common life of every day, with its cares, 
affords ample opportunity for acquiring experience of the 
best kind ; and its most beaten paths provide the true 
worker with abundant scope for effort and room for self- 
improvement. 



291 

io. What you are today, is the index of what you 
will be tomorrow. 

11. The seed you planted yesterday, you are reaping 
the fruits of today. 

12. To excel, to do a little better today than yes- 
terday, is commendable. 

13. He who is false to present duty, breaks a thread 
in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have for- 
gotten the cause . 

14. Invest every moment of time, in such a way, 
that it will make for you the largest possible return in 
time and eternity. 

15. Do not brood over the past not dream of the 
future ; but seize the instant and get your lesson from the 
hour. 

16. Make the most of every day as it comes. 

17. No economy is so essential as the economy of 
time. 

18. The present time has one advantage over every 
other — it is your own. Past opportunities are gone, 
future are to come. 

19. Look not mournfully into the past, it cannot 
come back ; wisely improve the present, it is yours ; go 
forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear and with a 
manly heart. 

20. Present time is very precious. 

21. There should be no time like the present, for the 
display of creative ability ; for the very multiplicity of the 
achievements of the past, in every field, furnish just that 
much food for still greater achievements in the future. 

22. True success comes through making haste 
slowly, in disciplining the soul to enjoy the innocent 
pleasures of a beautiful world, in making refinement and 
culture the ideals of existence, and in extracting from 
each moment of the day the drop of happiness that is con- 
tained in it. 

23. Today's troubles look large, but a few days 
hence they will be forgotten and out of sight. 

24. The present is the living sum-total of all the 
past. 

25. Whatever helps you best today, is the help you 
need. 



292 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 1. Method. 

Order is Heav'n's first law; and this confest, 

Some are, and must be, greater than the rest. — Pope. 

1. As much as possible, throw your business into a 
certain method, by which means you will learn to improve 
every precious moment, and find an unspeakable facility 
in the performance of your respective duties. 

2. Method, unless based on nature's laws, never 
rises to greatness. 

3. Of method this may be said : If you make it your 
slave it is well, but it is bad if you are a slave to method. 

4. Marshal all your notions into a handsome 
method. 

5. A man is most successful in his pursuits, when 
he is most careful as to his method. 

6. The habit of working teaches method. It com- 
pels economy of time, and the disposition of it with judi- 
cious forethought. 

7. Take up the first important thing that comes to 
hand, and concentrate the mind on it until it is accom- 
plished. 

8. The best method is obtained by earnestness. If 
you can impress people with the conviction that you feel 
what you say, they will pardon many shortcomings. 

9. Method and true order are not only useful in the 
lesser concerns of life, but necessary to success in the 
most important objects; it is by these that the powers 
and activity of the mind are turned to good account. 

10. Accurate people are methodical people, and 
method means character. 

11. Every business man must be systematic and or- 
derly ; so must every housewife. 

12. Method, which is the soul of business, is also of 
essential importance in the home. Work can only be got 
through by method. 

13. Method is essential, and enables a large amount 
of work to be accomplished satisfactorily. 

14. Men who lack method seldom accomplish much. 



293 

15. Put yourself under stern and rigid discipline 
each day ; be true to your best instincts and faithful to the 
daily task imposed on you ; be animated with the high 
purpose of pleasing God rather than yourself. 

16. There is great advantage in having your mind 
systematized, or accustomed to system. It is a great 
mistake to try to do many things at once, for certainly 
none of them will be done well. Try one thing at a time, 
and do that thing well. It is the best general rule of 
conduct to follow. 

17. If that which is first at hand be not instantly, 
steadily, and regularly dispatched, other things accumu- 
late behind, until affairs begin to press all at once, and no 
human brain can stand the confusion. 

18. Force yourself to take an interest in your work, 
and the effort will soon become a pleasure instead of a 
hardship. 

19. Arrangement is a most important idea, to be so 
imbedded in the mind that it works and controls you, 
until method shall show itself in whatever you undertake. 

20. Work must be directed with intelligence. 

21. Neatness in moderation is a virtue, but when it 
is carried to excess, it shows littleness of mind. 

22. You must strive after accuracy as you would 
after wisdom, or anything else you would attain. 

23. Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty. 

24. System is an arrangement to secure certain ends, 
so that no time may be lost in accomplishing them. 

25. The man who would succeed, must make the 
best use of all his resources. 

26. The great difference between those who succeed 
and those who fail, does not consist in the amount of work 
done by each, but in the amount of intelligent work. 
Many of those who fail most ignominiously, do enough 
to achieve grand success ; but they labor at haphazard, 
building up with one hand only to tear down with the 
other. 

27. A man who does things at the time when they 
ought to be done, is likely to be wanted. 



294 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 2. Originality. 

Though old the thought, and oft expressed, 
'Tis his at last who says it best. — Pope. 

1. The great emotions of life are none the less new, 
because they have been felt by others before you. If a 
thought is a real growth out of your own experience and 
meditation, it matters not how often it may have been 
expressed by others, it is none the less original to you. 

2. There is no effort of science or art that may not 
be exceeded ; no depth of philosophy that cannot be 
deeper sounded ; no flight oi imagination that may not be 
passed by strong and soaring wing. 

3. There is always need of persons not only to dis- 
cover new truths, and point out when what were once 
truths are true no longer, but also to commence new 
practices, and set the example of more enlightened con- 
duct, and better taste and sense in human life. 

4. The popular demand is for men who can develop 
the world's material resources. 

5. True originality consists in doing things well, 
and doing them in your own way. 

6. Energy of will — self-originating force — is the 
soul of every great character. Where it is, there is life ; 
where it is not, there is faintness, helplessness, and de- 
spondency. 

7. There is very little chance for a young man to 
distinguish himself in the midst of tremendous competi- 
tion, unless he is original. 

8. The creative energy which accomplishes things, 
the original, vitalizing force of achievement, must ever 
come from within. 

9. It takes a very bold, a very original, and a very 
strong man, to step to the front and attract the attention 
of his competitors. 

10. In reality the origin, as well as the progress and 
improvement of civil society, is founded in mechanical 
inventions. 



295 

11. What the world demands is striking originality. 
It admires the man who has the courage to lift his head 
above the crowd, who dares to step to the front and 
declare himself. 

12. Search out the things that might be done bet- 
ter, or in addition to the obvious ones at hand. No 
business is so perfect in its details that there is no room 
for improvement. 

13. Originality bristles at every point with energy, 
enterprise and quick antagonism. 

14. Originality is at a premium. The world makes 
way for the man with a new idea. 

15. As long as among the millions of human beings 
in the world, there are no two persons exactly alike, so 
long will it be possible to think thoughts and present 
ideas peculiar to yourself. 

16. There are plenty of ideas left in the world yet. 
All good things have not been done. 

17. Be original in your methods and lead rather 
than follow. 

18. Originality consists not so much in presenting 
something that is actually new, as it does in rearranging 
what you have gleaned from books and observation, or 
from other men. 

19. The rising man must do something exceptional, 
and beyond the range of his special department. He 
must attract attention. 

20. No one is educated in any subject who cannot 
produce something original. 

21. One original thought, well expressed, will do 
more to prove you an educated person, than all the bor- 
rowed ideas of the greatest minds the world has ever 
produced. 

22. It is not so difficult a task to plant new truths, 
as to root out old errors ; for there is this paradox in 
men, they run after that which is new, but are prejudiced 
in favor of that which is old. 

23. Some degree of novelty must be one of the ma- 
terials in every instrument which works upon the mind; 
and curiosity blends itself more or less with all passions. 



296 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 3. Decision. 

The spirit of a single mind 

Makes that of multitudes take one direction, 

As roll the waters to the breathing wind. — Byron. 

1. One of the first things to learn in life is the 
power of quick, prompt, and energetic decision, the de- 
cision which is not always coming up for reconsideration 
when opposing arguments are presented. It is infinitely 
better to make mistakes by deciding too quickly, or by 
making a wrong decision, than to be always vacillating, 
hanging in the balance, not knowing what to do. 

2. Quick penetration and intelligence, comprehen- 
sion, the view of facts together, comparison, the mental 
power to set things side by side and perceive the greater, 
the wiser, the more effective of different plans or powers, 
sagacity, foresight of probable results, — these seem to 
be the intellectual qualities which go with or precede 
those decisions which have secured success. 

3. Calling on others to help in forming a decision 
is worse than useless. You must so train your habits 
as to rely on your own powers, and depend on your own 
courage, in moments of emergency. 

4. The ability to plan quickly and surely is the 
secret of professional as well as business success, for it 
lies at the bottom of executive ability of which so much 
is urged. 

5. Without decision there can be no concentration ; 
and, to succeed, you must concentrate. 

6. Decision, strong and unyielding, has had much 
to do with the great successes which command admira- 
tion and excite surprise. 

7. If you lack decision you are ever at the mercy of 
circumstances, and the puppet of stronger minds. 

8. Half the misery and suffering of the world, comes 
from weakness of mind and lack of decision. 

9. Always be able to say yes or no. 

10. To be decisive on important occasions you must 
keep cool. 



297 

11. Do not mistake stupid pride or obstinacy for 
healthy decision. 

12. Decision, when untempered by affection and 
unpoised by a wise, considerate, generous estimate of the 
rights of others, too quickly degenerates into sternness 
and severity. 

13. There is need for coolness of manner, and de- 
cision of action, in all lines of business. 

14. There is nothing else that will fix a floating 
life and prevent it from being tossed hither and thither, 
like forming a habit of prompt decision, and thus putting 
yourself forever beyond the temptation of vacillation, 
from the influence of others. 

15. As a rule, great decision of character is usually 
accompanied by great constitutional firmness. 

16. The decided man, the prompt man, does not 
wait for favorable circumstances ; he does not submit to 
events ; events must submit to him. 

17. Strong characters, who make their mark in the 
world, are always noted for quick and prompt decision. 
They weigh the situation carefully and then plunge in to 
win. 

18. Prompt decision and whole-souled action, sweep 
the world before them. 

19. Decision of character outstrips even talent and 
genius, in the race for success in life. 

20. Decision gives the power of standing firmly, 
when to yield, however slightly, might be only the first 
step in a down-hill course to ruin. 

21. The positive man, the decided man, is a power 
in the world, and stands for something. You can esti- 
mate the work that his energy will accomplish. 

22. Decision of character will give to an inferior 
mind, command over a superior. 

23. To be fixed and resolute, to be decided and firm, 
is only to be expected of those who have brains enough 
to come to a conclusion. 

24. It is the man who decides immediately on the 
course he will take, and what he will sacrifice, that 
reaches the goal. 

25. Acquire a quick and steadfast decision. 



298 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 4. Devotion. 

To business that we love, we rise betime, 
And go to it with delight. — Shakespeare. 

1. A man generally does well what he loves to do. 

2. Half-hearted service is always hard. 

3. You must throw your whole self into whatever 
you touch ; be a whole man in whatever you do, no matter 
how apparently small it may be. 

4. The successful man, the world over, is the one 
who loves his work, to whom it is a joy instead of a task. 

5. You must love your work, and not always be 
looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin ; 
and you must not be ashamed of your work and think it 
would be more honorable for you to be doing something 
else. 

6. You should clearly understand in advance, that 
if you do not have the capacity or love for work, there 
is no profession in which you can win success. But, 
having this, you will find great opportunities to make a 
name for yourself and to earn large pecuniary rewards. 

7. Show strong, absolute whole-heartedness in 
whatever you undertake ; throw yourself, body and soul, 
into whatever you do. 

8. Stick to the thing and carry it through. Believe 
you were made for the place you fill, and that no' one 
else can fill it as well. Put forth your whole energies. Be 
awake, electrify yourself; go forth to the task. Only 
once learn to carry a thing through in all its completeness 
and proportion, and you will become a hero. You will 
think better of yourself; others will think better of you. 

9. The one-talented man who has fallen in love with 
his work, who is enthusiastic over his vocation, will 
accomplish infinitely more in life than the ten-talented 
man who has not been touched by this divine spark. 

10. Labor is best performed, not only in the expec- 
tation of pay, but because of a friendly interest and thank- 
ful spirit. 



299 

11. Put heart into your Avork. Do not look on it 
simply as a means of earning money. 

12. No one who is not in love with his work, need 
expect to attain important results. Coldnesss, lukewarm- 
ness, and indifference are fatal to progress. 

13. If you wish to accomplish something of worth, 
you must give your life, your energy, your enthusiasm 
to your work; you must concentrate all your powers on 
some occupation or profession. 

14. Study successful men, and you will find that 
they did their work not from a slavish hunger after emolu- 
ments, but from a genuine love of it and satisfaction in 
discharging its duties well. 

15. Your heart must inspire what your hands ex- 
ecute, or the work will be poorly done. 

16. The happiest hours of your life should be when 
you are working. 

17. The first thing to do, if you have not done it, 
is to fall in love with your work. 

18. Generally speaking, success is the result, and 
the laudable result, of absorption in your work. 

19. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, 
body and soul. 

20. To succeed, you must be possessed, carried away 
with your work. 

21. Whatever you do, you should devote all your 
energy to it, and not allow your mind to wander, balance 
motives, or hesitate, for to hesitate is sometimes to be 
lost. 

22. It is a prerequisite of success, that you love your 
calling. In your eyes it must be the grandest and most 
honorable of all callings. 

23. Merely mechanical diligence is never enough ; 
you must give yourself to your work. Devotion and loy- 
alty to it are the conditions of improvement and real ad- 
vancement ; without them you neither do it justice, nor 
yourself. 

24. Love your work, then you will do it well. 



3oo 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 5. Industry. 

Toil and be glad! let industry inspire 
Into your quickened limbs her buoyant breath! 
Who does not act is dead: absorbed entire 
In miry sloth, no pride, no joy he hath: 
O leaden-hearted men, to be in love with death! 

— Thomson. 

1. Industry gives character and credit to the young. 

2. The industry that prospers, must be steady to a 
given object; not fitful or easily daunted. Whatever it 
undertakes it must do heartily, as a pleasure, not as a 
task ; thoroughly, not with a fainting zeal. 

3. Some are born restless, active, and energetic ; 
others slow and lethargic, but the masses are neither, at 
first, and may school themselves into useful industry, or 
insensibly fall into the opposite. 

4. In the ordinary business of life, industry can do 
anything which genius can do ; and very many things 
which it can not. 

5. Industry is a substitute for genius. 

6. God has stored the world with an endless variety 
of riches for man's wants, but he has made them all 
accessible only to industry. 

7. The poor with industry, is happier than the rich 
in idleness ; for labor makes one more manly and riches 
unman the other. 

8. Industry takes a high rank as a virtue. By it 
you learn to reinforce the moments by the hours, and 
the days by the years. You learn how the puny individual 
can conquer great obstacles. 

9. Never depend on your genius ; if you have talent, 
industry will improve it ; if you have none, industry will 
supply the deficiency. 

10. Good appetite, good digestion and good sleep are 
the elements of health, and industry confers them. 

11. Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all 
easy. 

12. As idleness is the inlet to most other evils, so it 
is by industry that the powers of the mind are turned to 
good account. 



301 

13. If you are industrious you will never starve ; for, 
at the working-man's door, hunger looks in, but dares not 
enter. 

14. All that is called progress — civilization, well- 
being and prosperity — depends on industry, diligently 
applied. 

15. The spirit of industry, embodied in man's daily 
life, will gradually lead him to exercise his powers on 
objects outside himself, of greater dignity and more ex- 
tended usefulness. 

16. Industry conduces to longevity. So honest, 
earnest, human endeavor tends to health of body, mind 
and soul. 

17. Industry is a perpetual call on the judgment, the 
power of quick decision ; it makes ready men, practical 
men. 

18. There is no art or science that is too difficult for 
industry. It conquers all enemies, and gives wings to all 
blessings. 

19. Industry gives comfort, and plenty and respect. 

20. Sedulous attention and painstaking industry, 
always mark the true worker. 

21. Those who constitute the business portion of 
the community, those who make great and useful men, 
were trained up in their boyhood to be industrious. 

- 22,. One who has the courage to remain steadfast, 
and rely on thrift and industry, is almost sure to achieve 
success. 

23. Industry is prosperity. 
.-- 24. Industry gives physical and mental strength to 
men and awakens all the intellectual energies which have 
characterized the brain of the intelligent laborer, of the 
inventor, of the discoverer, and, generally speaking, of the 
genius so productive, so fruitful, and so beneficial to the 
welfare and happiness of mankind. 

25. Industry enables the poorest man to achieve 
honor, if not distinction. 

26. Let those born without particular genius take 
courage, for well-directed industry and faithful effort will 
find opportunity. 



302 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 6. Concentration. 

Whate'er your forte, to that your zeal confine, 

Let all your talents there concentered shine; 

As shallow streams, collected, form a tide, 

So talents thrive to one grand point applied. — Anon. 

i. Concentration calls, not for educated men, not for 
talented men, not for geniuses, but for men who are 
trained to do one thing as well as it can be done. 

2. To be successful, you must possess apitude for 
the particular business that engages you. You must love 
it for its own sake. If, suited to and loving it, you con- 
centrate on it all your energies, you are tolerably sure to 
succeed, according to the measure of the business itself 
and of your own capacity. 

3. There is no important work or calling — and there 
is scarcely a calling that does not entail important work — 
that does not, with its main features and correlations, 
mean concentration and absorption, and the letting go, 
or never taking hold of, to any great extent, of most other 
things in the world. 

4. The weakest living creature, by concentrating 
his powers on one thing, can accomplish something; the 
strongest, by dissipating his over many, may fail to 
accomplish anything. 

5. If you practice daily, concentration upon all the 
little or trivial things, then, when something of larger 
proportion presents itself, you are ready to meet it. You 
must not defer your concentration until something of 
importance comes to you, but must make yourself ready 
for it by practice in the common ones. 

6. Abide unflinchingly by your choice, and in a little 
while your power of concentration will increase, and in 
time you will become satisfied with what you have 
chosen. 

7. Versatile men, universal geniuses, are usually 
weak, because they have no power to concentrate their 
talents on one point, and this makes all the difference 
between success and failure. 



303 

8. Too much concentration on any one subject is a 
mistake, especially in youth. 

9. It is the concentration of all the powers on a 
single purpose that wins the race. 

10. To succeed, a man must concentrate all the 
faculties of the mind on one unwavering aim, and have 
a tenacity of purpose which means death or victory. 

11. If you want to do substantial work, concen- 
trate ; if you wish to give others the benefits of your 
work, condense. 

12. You should commence life with some definite 
object, concentrating the mind on one particular sub- 
ject. 

13. To be able to shut out from the mind all ideas 
irrelevant to the problem before it is an indication of a 
fine brain. 

14. To think of one thing at a time is a mental 
quality rarer than it would appear to be, and one which 
has much to do with your success in life. 

15. One of the secrets of a successful life is to be 
able to hold all of your energies on one point, to focus 
all of the rays of the mind on c&3 place or thing. 

16. The moment you divide your attention, you 
break your force. It is in the union of all your faculties 
that you become invincible. 

17. Science joined with sound judgment, force, 
and steadfastness of will, is called administrative power 
— the power to bring things to pass — and it is the 
highest, the rarest, and most valuable form of human 
capacity. Compared with it, mere genius is insignifi- 
cant. Without it, nothing great or good is ever done. 
Those who have it are the great controlling and con- 
structive minds of the world. 

18. All great lives have tasted of everything a 
little, looked at everything a little, but lived for one great 
object. All more or less, are idealists, and rivet their 
thoughts on certain ideals seeming possible. 

19. To be great you must hold the mind firmly and 
persistently to one thing. 



304 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 7. Thoroughness. 

If thou canst plan a noble deed, 

And never flag- till it succeed, 

Though in the strife thy heart should bleed, 

"Whatever obstacles control, 

Thine hour will come — go on, true soul! 

Thou 'It win the prize, — thou 'It reach the goal. 

— C. Macay. 

1. A complete life, thoroughly rounded physically, 
mentally, spiritually, is the life that contains within 
itself the elements of success in material, equally with 
higher things. The bane of living is incompleteness. 

2. The consciousness of thorough knowledge, the 
habit of doing everything to a finish, gives a feeling of 
strength, of supremacy, which takes the drudgery out 
of an occupation. 

3. Never be satisfied with doing anything as well 
as it is required, but do it better. 

4. To learn and master a few things, is better than 
to know a little of many things ; and the earnest student 
who goes slowly and surely will be the man who wins 
in the end. 

5. Do everything entrusted to you, no matter how 
trivial it may seem, as well as it can be done. 

6. A high-minded man will set his face against 
every form and phase of shirking, and will feel that 
whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. 

7. Know your trade ; it is an interesting study, as 
well as one of major importance. 

8. It is better to begin business with a small cap- 
ital and an expert knowledge, than with a big capital 
and no knowledge of the business. 

9. There is a great satisfaction in doing things just 
right. This sense of completeness, of things well done, 
has a most salutary influence in strengthening character, 
and bringing all the faculties into harmony, in qualifying 
you for better and higher work. 

10. The superficial man will be content with 
knowledge of the routine, that has to do with his daily 
work and the result will be commonplace mediocrity. 



305 

The thorough man will be discontented unless he is 
always learning. 

ii. The complete mastery of an occupation will 
render even the dryest details interesting. 

12. The more completely you master a vocation, 
the more thoroughly you enjoy it. 

13. The world wants your best, and you should 
resolve early in life never to give anything but the best 
of which you are capable. Put your best thought, your 
best work, your best energy into everything you do. 
Make up your mind that you will never do anything by 
halves, no matter what others may do. Your life is 
worth too much to be thrown away in half doing things, 
or botching anything you undertake. 

14. Be thorough. Bend all the best faculties of 
your mind to everything that is brought to your atten- 
tion. Always remember that quality and not quantity 
is the desideratum in everything. 

15. By thoroughly mastering any given branch of 
knowledge, you render it more available for use at any 
moment. 

16. Be thorough. Take advantage of every point 
that will make your work successful and lasting, even 
if you may be sometimes underpaid for it. 

17. Do everything to a finish, do the smallest thing 
as well as it can be done. Those who, early in life, 
acquire this habit, will always enjoy that peace of mind, 
that peculiar sense of contentment and satisfaction, 
which can only come from the consciousness of doing 
things completely. 

18. First, be master of what you undertake, and 
the money will then be likely to flow to you. 

19. Doing well depends on doing completely. 

20. Everything that is well done, leads up to a 
more difficult thing, that stands waiting to be done. 

21. Do not expect success if you have never 
learned your business, and do not expect promotion if 
you fail to give the best there is in you. 

22. Do not evade your work, do it thoroughly. 



306 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 8. Energy. 

Not he who rests upon the glory won, 

Not he who sighs to have his life-work through, 

But he who, in the midst of what is done, 
Impatient stands for what is still to do. 

— Montrose J. Moses. 

1. No matter how much ability you may have, or 
how clever, courteous, or amiable you may be, if you 
lack energy, the powder of success, you will never accom- 
plish much. 

2. Energy without talent, will accomplish more 
than talent without energy. 

3. Mere energy is not enough ; it must be concen- 
trated on some steady, unwavering aim. 

4. Decision and energy go together, but prompt- 
ness to put them into execution is needed as well. 

5. Energy of mind, like power in mechanism, if 
once attained, may be directed and applied to a variety 
of objects; but a want of energy, is a defect most diffi- 
cult to overcome. 

6. Energy, without integrity and a soul of good- 
ness, may only represent the embodied principle of 
evil. Very different is the man of energetic character, 
inspired by a noble spirit, whose actions are governed by 
rectitude, and the law of whose life is duty. He is just 
and upright — in his business dealings, in his public 
action, and in his family life. He will be honest in all 
things — in his words and in his work. He will be gen- 
erous and merciful to his opponents, as well as to those 
who are weaker than himself. 

7. Given persistence, and energy soon becomes 
habitual. 

8. Energy of will — self originating force — is the 
soul of every great character. Where it is, there is 
life ; where it is not, there is faintness, helplessness, and 
despondency. 

9. It is energy — the central element of which is 
will — that produces the miracles of enthusiasm in all 
ages. Everywhere it is the mainspring of what is called 



307 

force of character, and the sustaining power of all great 
action. 

10. To succeed, you need more than anything else, 
to know how to apply your energy. 

n. You must concentrate your energies to definite 
purposes, in proportion as you wish to excel. 

12. Energy may be turned to bad uses ; but more 
good may always be made of an energetic nature, than 
of an indolent and impassive one. 

13. Energy is the queen of the world. Even benev- 
olence, love, grace, everything that is charming or admir- 
able, is of less value than energy. 

14. Ability without energy, is the engine without 
steam. 

15. There are few things more beautiful than the 
calm and resolute progress of an earnest spirit. The 
triumphs of genius may be more dazzling; the chances 
of good fortune may be more exciting; but neither is 
at all so interesting, or so worthy, as the achievement 
of a faithful, steady and fervent energy. 

16. The career of a great man remains an enduring 
monument of human energy. 

17. Endurance and energy are the dual soul of 
worth, the true valor. 

18. The results of human energy wait on defi- 
niteness and persistency of purpose. This calls for the 
long look forward, that fixes the general aim of life, 
determining the profession or calling which each man 
should choose. 

19. The difference between one boy and another 
consists not so much in talent as in energy. 

20. Cleverness counts one point in the race to nine 
points for energy. 

21. It is the duty of every man, to devote his entire 
energies to the interests of his employers. 

22. The zealous, energetic man unconsciously car- 
ries others along with him. His example is contagious, 
and compels imitation. He exercises a sort of electric 
power, which sends a thrill through every fibre, flows 
into the nature of those about him, and makes them give 
out sparks of fire. 



3 o8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 9. Perseverance. 

Yet nerve thy spirit to the proof, and blench not at thy chosen 

lot; 
The timid good may stand aloof, the sage may frown, — yet faint 

thou not: 
Nor heed the shaft too surely cast, the foul and hissing bolt of 

scorn ; 
For with thy side shall dwell, at last, the victory of endurance 

bom. — Bailey. 

i. Perseverance does not get thrown into a panic; 
it is not subject to fainting fits. In its book of tactics 
there is no such word as retreat. Forward is on every 
page, but there is no retreat. It burns the bridges it has 
crossed. It knows nothing about backward movements. 
It does not run at the sight of a foe. It halts only to 
get breath. It rests only to rise in greater strength. It 
may have to go slowly, but it goes. Mountains of diffi- 
culty may be against it, but it knows how to climb ; 
now it is on the other side. A man who cannot perse- 
vere is too weak, nerveless, limpsy, for this rough, go- 
ahead world. He is sure to get left. 

2. It is only the early days which bring weariness 
and pain. These conquered by perseverance, the rest 
is easy, and the success in conquering the first pleadings 
of the siren fickleness of purpose, who is of closer kin to 
laziness than you might think, lays the corner-stone of 
success in life. 

3. Persistent people begin their success where 
others leave off. 

4. Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its 
results. 

5. The chief difference between success and fail- 
ure lies in the single element of staying power. 

6. There is no trait more valuable than a determi- 
nation to persevere, when the right thing is to be accom- 
plished. 

7. No one will succeed in acquiring true decision 
of character without perseverance. A few feeble efforts, 
continued a day or two, or a week, are by no means suf- 
ficient to change the character or form the habit. The 



309 

efforts must be earnest, energetic, and unremitting; and 
must be persevered in through life. 

8. It does not matter how clever a young man may- 
be, whether he leads his class in college or outshines all 
the other boys in his community, he will never succeed 
if he lacks this essential of determined persistence. 

9. Although success is the prize for which all men 
toil, they have, nevertheless, often to labor on persever- 
ingly, without any glimmer of success in sight. They 
have to live, meanwhile, on their courage — sowing 
their seed, it may be, in the dark, in the hope that it 
will yet take root and spring up in achieved result. 

10. Little by little must your capital stock of ideas, 
influence or wealth be built up, by economizing time and 
persistent toil. 

11. The persistent man never stops to consider 
whether he is succeeding or not. The only question 
with him is how to push ahead, to get a little further 
along, a little nearer his goal. 

12. All the performance of human art, at which 
men look with praise and wonder, are instances of the 
resistless force of perseverance. 

13. Persistency of purpose is power. It creates 
confidence in others. Everybody believes in the deter- 
mined man. When he undertakes anything, his battle 
is half won, because not only himself, but everyone who 
knows him, believes that he will accomplish whatever he 
sets out to do. 

14. Conscientious persistence cannot fail of its 
ultimate reward. 

15. The lives of eminent inventors are illustrative 
of the quality of perseverance. 

16. Much greater are the effects of perseverance 
than those of force. 

17. There is not so much in knowing what is the 
best thing to do, as there is in persistent adherence to 
the work you undertake. 

18. When a man goes by fits and starts and jumps, 
he may make more of a sensation, but he does not 
accomplish nearly as much as the man who keeps a 
steady pull and never lets up. 

19. Men of intellect, labor a life-time in the pursuit 
of a single object. 



3io 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 10. Economy. 

Man's rich with little, were his judgment true; 
Nature is frugal, and her wants are few. — Young. 

1. Study the virtue of economy. It enters into 
every phase of human affairs. It is as broad and deep 
as the sea. Practice it with cheerfulness and alacrity, 
as is its due. It contains the secret of the highest form 
of success. 

2. Waste nothing — time, talent nor money. 

3. In its narrow sense, the word economy has a 
somberness which makes it disagreeable, because it is 
generally associated with painful self-denial of those 
things which you most desire. But economy is the most 
beautiful word in any language. It is a broad term, and 
stands for a broad and beautiful science ; and it should 
be understood and practiced in its broadest and most 
effective sense. In brief, it means getting the most good 
out of everything. 

4. Economy does not require superior courage, nor 
superior intellect, nor any super-human virtue. It 
merely requires common sense, and the power of resist- 
ing selfish enjoyments. 

5. No gain is so certain as that which proceeds 
from the economical use of what you have. 

6. There is a dignity in every attempt to econ- 
omize. Its very practice is improving. It indicates 
self-denial, and imparts strength to the character. It 
produces a well-regulated mind. It fosters temperance. 
It is based on forethought. It makes prudence the dom- 
inating characteristic. It gives virtue the mastery over 
self-indulgence. 

7. Economy is of itself a great revenue. 

8. It is not the amount made, but that which is 
saved that indicates success. The habit of economy is 
important in getting along in the world. 

9. There is an economy of time as well as of 
money. To spend hours in useless pursuits, or to suffer 
spare moments to slip by unimproved, is as truly waste- 



3ii 

ful as it would be to empty your purse every now and 
then into the sea. 

10. As men become wise and thoughtful, they gen- 
erally become provident and frugal. 

ii. Make no expense but to do good to yourself or 
others ; that is : waste nothing. 

12. The more the habit of thrift is practiced, the 
easier it becomes, and the sooner it compensates the 
self-denier for the sacrifices which it has imposed. 

13. A thousand men win competence by quietly 
saving their spare money, where one gets rich by crazy 
speculation. 

14. Save without parsimony, spend without lav- 
ishness. 

15. There is one sure sign of a coming successful 
man. His revenues always exceed his expenditures. He 
begins to save early, almost as soon as he begins to 
earn. 

16. Increase your wealth by lessening your desires. 
Develop a capacity to do without money. 

17. Economy is very essential ; but a man may be 
too economical, and then he becomes miserly. He 
deprives himself of essentials, and perhaps little luxuries, 
that would make him more agreeable. Little luxuries 
impart an easiness of manner, and a sense of comfort. 

18. That kind of economy which verges on the 
niggardly, is better than the extravagance that laughs 
at it. Either, when carried to excess, is not only apt to 
cause misery, but to ruin the character. 

19. Do not squeeze out of your life, and comfort, 
and family, what you save. 

20. There is a dignity in the very effort to save 
with a worthy purpose, even though the attempt should 
not be crowned with eventual success. It gives prudence 
a triumph over extravagance ; it gives virtue the mastery 
over vice ; it puts the passions under control ; it drives 
away care ; it secures comfort. 

21. You must learn how to save. 



312 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 11. Pluck. 

Pluck wins! It always wins, though days be slow, 

And nights be dark 'twixt days that come and go, 

Still pluck will win. Its average is sure. 

He gains the prize who can the most endure, 

Who faces issues, he who never shirks, 

Who waits and watches, and who always works. — Anon. 

i. Pluck is that element of character which enables 
you to clutch your aim with an iron grip, and keep the 
needle of your purpose pointing to the star of your hope. 

2. The world admires plucky men. Blow them 
this way and that, and they only bend ; they never 
break. Put obstacles in their way, and they surmount 
them. It is almost impossible to keep such men down. 
Trip one up, and instantly he is on his feet again ; bury 
him in the mud, but at once he is up and at it again. 
Such men as he build cities, establish schools and hos- 
pitals, whiten the ocean with sails, and blacken the air 
with the smoke of their industry. 

3. Pluck is opposed to cowardice. It does not 
belong to weak characters. You find it wherever any- 
thing worth doing is done, worth achieving is achieved. 
It can stand a shock without fainting. Pluck has done 
wonders. 

4. Pluck has won all fame and all fortune. It has 
put the laurel on every brow that ever wore it. 

5. Men who study life most profoundly and incis- 
ively, say that it is pluck and not luck that wins in the 
world. 

6. The man who makes a success of an important 
venture, never waits for the crowd. He strikes out for 
himself. It takes nerve. It takes a great lot of pluck. 
But the man that succeeds has both. 

7. Nothing else, except honesty, is so much in 
demand as pluck. Everybody believes in it. They want 
a man who can do something. 

8. Pluck clears the track. People get out of the 
way of an energetic man. 

9. Put pluck in the place of chance, and make a 



313 

way. In every age of the world's history, it has been 
repeatedly proved than this can be done. 

10. Many have to encounter failure again and 
again before they succeed; but if they have pluck, the 
failure will only serve to rouse their courage, and stim- 
ulate them to renewed effort. 

ii. Unless you are deprived of all your limbs or 
all your faculties, you can surely do something; in most 
cases something effectually and adequately, if you will, 
with a staying mind and resolute will, put pluck in place 
of whatever is missing. 

12. Most of the battles of life, moral and physical, 
have been won by men and women who have put pluck 
in place of popular approval and support, money, and 
encouragement. 

13. Even the privation of some important bodily 
sense, such as sight or hearing, has not been sufficient 
to deter courageous men from zealously pursuing the 
struggle of life. 

14. The man who is considered equal to the occa- 
sion, master of the situation — who is known to have a 
large reserve force — is the one who is sought after for 
great undertakings. 

15. A man who is made of the stuff that succeeds 
may pull himself out of the most desperate and hopeless 
situations. 

16. Men who have the right kind of material in 
them will assert their personality, and rise in spite of a 
thousand adverse circumstances. You cannot keep them 
down. Every obstacle seems only to add to their ability 
to get on. 

17. Do not let the thorns which appear in every 
vocation, or temporary despondency or disappointment, 
shake your purpose. 

18. Your greatest glory is not in never falling, but 
in rising every time you fall. 

19. What you do in spite of circumstances, rather 
than because of them, is the measure of your success 
ability. 



3H 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XV. Part 12. Crowding. 

So man that thinks to force and strain 

Beyond its natural sphere, his brain, 

In vain torments it on the rack, 

And, for improving, sets it back. — Butler. 

1. No man should so utterly wrap himself up in one 
phase of business as to make him ignorant of what is 
going on about him in other ways, and especially should 
he guard against becoming a specialist in any line of 
business to the extent of ignoring other branches of the 
same general work. 

2. Crowding, however practiced, is seldom neces- 
sary ; it is resorted to by those especially who cannot, or 
will not, learn to think. 

3. A large proportion of the evils of the day is 
due to haste and hurry, and then worry comes in to com- 
plete the wreck. 

4. No person should be obliged beyond his ability. 

5. Over-culture, without practical experience, 
weakens a man, and unfits him for real life. 

6. Moderation in the pursuit of business, is neces- 
sary to success. Labor becomes a drudgery if this pre- 
caution is not observed ; and that which was intended as 
a blessing for man, becomes a curse. 

7. The attempt to break a record has ruined many 
a young man. 

8. The mind, like the atmosphere, has its satura- 
tion point, beyond which its powers of absorption cannot 
act. 

9. To be safe is worth taking time. 

10. The man who is always grinding, who keeps 
everlastingly at it, will ultimately become dull, stupid 
and narrow. His social faculties will die, and finally 
he will not be able to enjoy anything outside of the 
mechanical routine of his business. 

11. Long-continued, intense mental exercise, 
weakens the brain, disorders the stomach, and makes 
general action of the whole organism languid and unem- 
phatic. 



3i5 

12. If you will persist in cramming your mind full 
of more things than you can possibly think about, men- 
tal dyspepsia and stagnation will be the result. Your 
mental energies will be dissipated over too wide a field, 
and you cannot therefore be otherwise than superficial 
in whatever thinking you do. 

13. If you are worn out or suffering from brain 
exhaustion, the inferiority of your work shows itself in 
everything you do. 

14. Demand hours that do not strain vitality to the 
limit. You can shape your way of life to your income, 
but you cannot shape your life to hours that exhaust you, 
for then you have no life left to shape. 

15. A tired man is many removes from a tired-out 
man, and there is a great deal in knowing whether your 
work is overdoing you or simply tiring you. 

16. All you accomplish by stimulating or crowding 
the mind or body, when tired, is worse than lost. 

17. It is a law of nature that the over-development 
of any function or faculty, forcing or stimulating it, tends 
not only to ruin it, but the injury reacts injuriously on 
every other faculty and function. 

18. Mental vigor is always impaired by over-exer- 
tion at hard and long-continued labor, by irritation from 
frequent and unnaturally violent nervous impressions, 
by want of sleep, or by severe intellectual effort. 

19. A man who lives to the limit of his vitality, has 
no reserve of strength against accident or illness, and in 
the end the time saved by putting these minutes of leisure 
to business account, is more than offset by the strain on 
eyes, nerves, muscles and mind. 

20. The constant employment of any faculty of the 
brain, without any opportunity for relaxation, must 
either unbalance the mind or lead to a general break- 
down. 

21. You should not permit one great faculty to 
dwarf, cripple, warp or mutilate your manhood. 

22. Young men who spend too many years at 
school, are apt to forget the great end of life, which is to 
be and to do, and not to read and brood over what other 
men have done. 



316 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 1. Labor. 

Let me but do my work from day to day, 
In field or forest, at the desk or loom, 
In roaring market-place, or tranquil room; 
Let me but find it in my heart to say, 
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray — 

"This is my work; my blessing - , not my doom." 

— Van Dyke. 

1. Labor is the divine law of existence. 

2. Labor shuts up the first avenue to dishonesty ; 
it opens a broader field for the display of every talent ; 
and inspires with a new vigor the performance of every 
social and religious duty. 

3. The great majority of men, in all times, however 
enlightened, must necessarily be engaged in the ordinary 
avocations of industry; and no degree of culture which 
can be conferred on the community at large, will ever 
enable them — even were it desirable, which it is not — -to 
get rid of the daily work of society, which must be done. 

4. Nature works with you. And it ought never to 
be forgotten that, however rich or poor you may be, all 
that you eat, all that you are clothed with, all that shel- 
ters you, irom the palace to the cottage, is the result of 
labor. 

5. There is no operation of manual labor so simple, 
so mechanical, which does not require the exercise of per- 
ception, reflection, memory, and judgment, — the same 
intellectual powers with which the highest truths of 
science have oeen discovered and illustrated. 

6. The man who paints a picture, writes a book, 
makes a law, creates a poem, is a working man of the 
highest order ; not so necessary to the community as the 
plowman or the shepherd, but not less important as 
providing for society its highest intellectual nourishment, 
and leading it onward and upward. 

7. Without labor there can be no real and perma- 
nent success, no substantial and lasting achievement. 

8. The object of all labor, is to supply human 



317 

wants ; and want is the incentive to all human progress. 
The greater your wants the higher your life. 

9. The law of labor is equally binding on genius and 
mediocrity. 

10. Labor is not only a necessity, but it is also a 
pleasure. What would otherwise be a curse, by the 
constitution of your physical system, becomes a blessing. 

n. Man not only obtains the gifts of nature at the 
price of labor, but these gifts become more precious, as 
you bestow on them greater skill and cultivation. 

12. Labor found the world a wilderness and made 
it a garden. 

13. Labor is the condition of all improvement. 

14. There is something wrong about the man who 
looks on manual labor as degrading. 

15. Work is not only a discipline, it is an educator 
of character. Even work that produces no results, be- 
cause it is work, is better than torpor, inasmuch as it 
educates facility, and is thus preparatory to successful 
work. 

16. Excellence is seldom, if ever granted to man, 
save as the reward of severe labor. 

17. The highest good will be obtained, when all the 
reasonable wants of civilized man are supplied with the 
least labor. 

18. He who is a stranger to industry may possess, 
but he cannot enjoy ; for it is labor which gives relish to 
pleasure. 

19. Even the drudgery of the commonest laborer, 
contributes toward the general well-being of society. 

20. You must either work, or somebody must work 
for you. 

21. Work is difficult in proportion, as the end to be 
attained is high and noble. God has put the highest price 
on the greatest worth. 

22. The working people are the true nobility. This 
includes those who work with their minds and those who 
work with their hands ; and with these workers you 
should enroll your name, and honor it through life, by 
being a working man — a producer, and not a mere con- 
sumer of what others earn. 



3i8 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 2. Opportunity. 

Ah, happy he who, knowing how to wait, 

Knows also how to watch and work and stand 
On life's broad deck alert, and at the prow 

To seize the passing moment, big with fate, 
From opportunity's extended hand, 
"When the great clock of destiny strikes now! 

— Mary A. Townsend. 

i. The opportunity is in the man, far more than in 
the place or the surroundings. 

2. Do not wait for extraordinary opportunities ; 
seize common occasions and make them great. 

3. The man who seizes his opportunity and im- 
proves it, in any community or walk of life, prospers. 
The man who does not, fails. 

4. Learn to look on everything which comes to 
you in life as an opportunity, a new point of departure for 
something higher and better. 

5. Make it the object of your life to look for, and 
avail yourself of, the opportunities of the day. Press 
close after the leaders ; do not wait for the crowd. Be 
quick to know discoveries and to use them. 

6. When opportunities do not seem to come to you, 
it is entirely possible to make them for yourself. Do not 
wait for them. They come to all sooner or later. You 
may not know it, but it is not the fault of the opportu- 
nities. 

7. Opportunity comes to everyone sooner or later, 
and it is indispensable that you be ready to take advan- 
tage of it. 

8. Great opportunities not only come seldom into 
the most fortunate life, but they are often quickly gone. 

9. To know opportunity, is a rare and exquisite 
wisdom ; a hundred arts and sciences are as nothing to it. 

10. He who improves an opportunity, sows a seed 
which will yield fruit in opportunity for himself and 
others. 

11. The opportunity to try is before everyone, and 



3i9 

he who fails to try, and try hard, and long, and earnestly, 
must not expect to achieve his aim in life. 

12. God gives to all ability and opportunities 
enough, to make them moderately successful. If you fail, 
it is your own fault. 

13. Golden opportunities are nothing to laziness, 
but industry makes the commonest chances golden. 

14. The true way is, first to develop your ability to 
the last ounce, and then you will be ready for your op- 
portunity, when it comes, or make one, if none offers. 

15. Given the possibility, the right man can make 
his opportunity, and should do so, if it is not at hand, or 
does not come, after reasonable waiting. 

16. You cannot expect that your whole life shall be 
made up of opportunities, that they will meet you at regu- 
lar intervals as you go on, like milestones by the road- 
side. 

17. Opportunity is open to every man according to 
his ability, his purpose, and his patient industry. 

18. Every season and every occasion makes its own 
imperious demand, and presents its peculiar opportunity 
of glorious victory or ignoble defeat, in the great battle of 
existence. 

19. Do not think that opportunity comes to others 
and not to you. Fortune visits every healthy, determined 
soul many times ; but, if she does not find it ready for 
its opportunity, she snatches her gift away and gives it to 
another. 

20. There is no difficulty in finding openings, if you 
only keep your eyes open. 

2.1. Energy, push and determination will bring 
openings, even to very small places. 

22. There are always possibilities, and there is no 
telling how high, one strictly attentive to business, and 
observing all the rules that govern it, may finally rise. 

23. If you fill your present position, whatever it may 
be, full to overflowing; if you are faithful, careful, and 
prudent ; if you study the needs of the next higher step 
above you, you may soon take that step. 

24. There is always something to be done, that is 
awaiting the coming of somebody that can do it well. 



320 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 3. Usefulness. 

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute 
What you can do, or think you can, begin it. — Faust. 

1. Highest use is always attended with the greatest 
pleasure — a benevolent provision of the Creator to stimu- 
late the performance of these uses. 

2. Usefulness of character depends more on dili- 
gence than on anything else. 

3. The man who is useful, is the man who is suc- 
cessful. 

4. The more you know, the more you can do with 
less effort. 

5. The vast bulk of men are required to discharge 
the homely duties of life, and they have less need of 
genius, than of intellectual industry and patient enter- 
prise. 

6. It is disreputable for anyone in vigorous health 
and years, even of ample fortune, to be without employ- 
ment. 

7. Working men and working women are the best 
in the world. 

8. Education is no value, talent is worthless, unless 
it can do something, achieve something. 

9. The purest pleasures lie within the circle of use- 
ful occupation. 

10. Be fit for more than the thing you are now 
doing. 

n. Even the meanest condition may be made use- 
ful ; for the light set in a low place shines as faithfully as 
that set on a hill. 

12. It is not how much a man may know that is of 
importance, but the end and purpose for which he 
knows it. 

13. Whatever your occupation or profession in life 
may be, it is most desirable to create for yourself some 
other special interest. 

14. Knowledge is not knowledge until you use it. 

15. The mere resolve not to be useless, and the hon- 



321 

est desire to help other people, will, in the quickest and 
most delicate way, improve yourself. 

16. The world honors utility, and has more use for 
the trained man that will work in harness, than for the 
brilliant but ethereal fancies of a genius, that float idly on 
every changing current of the imagination. 

17. It is a good way to do more than is required of 
you, — to bring yourself forward. The able, industrious, 
and clear-headed man is always in demand. 

18. Thousands may be out of employment, but the 
man who can do things, never. The whole world is look- 
ing for the man who can do things. 

19. When the art of packing life with useful occupa- 
tions is once acquired, by practice, every minute will be 
turned to account; and leisure, when it comes, will be 
enjoyed with all the greater zest. 

20. The time surely comes, in the lives of most peo- 
ple, when the highest human happiness is found in keep- 
ing busy. 

21. The diligent man is quick to find employment 
for his leisure; and he is able to make leisure when the 
idle man finds none. 

22. If your hands cannot be usefully employed, at- 
tend to the cultivation of your mind. 

23. Lose no time ; be always employed in something 
useful ; and cut off all unnecessary actions. 

24. Get something honest and do it, no matter what. 
Keep doing anything you can get, until you can get what 
you want. 

25. Constant useful occupation is wholesome, not 
only for the body, but for the mind. Even any ordinary 
drudgery is better than idleness. 

26. Only the man who is trained to help himself, can 
"be helpful to others. 

2J. Never ask another to do for you, what you can 
just as well do for yourself. To depend on others, has 
a tendency to enervate the mind and weaken the active 
powers. 

28. One who is cheerful is pre-eminently useful. 

29. You should be active, ready for any and every 
emergency. 



322 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 4. Vocation. 

All the world's a stage 
And all the men and women merely players: 
They have their exits and their entrances 
And one man in his time plays many parts. — Shakespeare. 

i. One of the greatest questions a human being is 
ever called on to decide, is the choice of a career. It 
affects your entire character and destiny. 

2. All business and all work should lift up, and not 
hold down ; it should make free, and not enslave ; it should 
ennoble and not degrade. 

3. Do not choose your life work, solely for the 
money that you can make by it. It is a contemptible 
estimate of an occupation, to regard it as a mere means 
of making a living. 

4. As a rule, a man takes pride in his occupation, 
when he feels that his whole nature is in harmony with 
it, when all of his faculties give their full consent to what 
he is doing. 

5. It is not to the value of your services you should 
look, but to the opportunity offered. 

6. Live in your occupation or profession so as to 
ennoble it while you stay in it. When the nobleness 
ceases, let the occupation or profession cease. 

7. Choose an occupation which will develop you ; 
which will elevate you ; which will give you a chance for 
self-improvement and promotion. You may not make so 
much money, but you will be more of a man, and man- 
hood is above all riches. 

8. You should choose an occupation which will call 
out the noblest, the strongest, in you, and allow that 
which is mean, narrow and contemptible to die. 

9. Power and constant growth toward a higher life, 
arc the great end of human existence. Your calling 
should be the great school of life, the great man de- 
veloper, character-builder, that which should broaden, 
deepen, and round out into symmetry, harmony and 
beauty, all the God-given faculties within you. 



3 23 

io. The crowning fortune of a man, is to be born 
to some pursuit, which keeps him in employment and 
happiness. 

ii. Whether a life is noble or ignoble, depends not 
only on the calling which is adopted, but on the spirit 
hi which it is followed. 

12. A man's business does more to make him than 
anything else. No man feels himself a man who is not 
doing a man's business. 

13. In selecting the life career, it behooves every- 
one to be conscientious, to be careful in taking account 
of the predilection, of talent and probable opportunity. 

14. If your vocation be an humble one, elevate it 
with more manhood than others put into it. Put into it 
brains and heart, and energy and economy. Broaden 
it by originality of methods. Extend it by enterprise 
and industry. Study it as you would a profession. Learn 
everything that is to be known about it. Concentrate 
your faculties on it, for the greatest achievements are 
reserved for the man of single aim, in whom no rival 
powers divide the empire of the soul. 

15. A vocation ought to be selected, in which there 
is a prospect of making more than a mere living. It is 
ennobling to feel, as you advance in life, that you are 
laying up something for old age, not only for your own 
subsistence, but for religious and philanthropic purposes 
as well. 

16. As the calling dignifies the man, so the man 
much more advances his calling. 

17. Select a clean, useful, honorable occupation. If 
there is any doubt on this point, abandon the thought 
of it at once. Choose a career that has expansiveness 
in it. 

18. The most unhappy people in the world are 
those who are out of place. 

19. Your occupation has everything to do with your 
development and destiny. 

20. Choose that occupation which focuses the larg- 
est amount of your experience and taste. 

21. A man cannot succeed when his whole nature 
is entering its perpetual protest against his occupation. 



324 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 5. Business. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men, 

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; 

Omitted, all the voyage of their life 

Is bound in shallows, and in miseries. — Shakespeare. 

1. Business qualities have, indeed, a very large 
field of action. They mean aptitude for affairs, compe- 
tency to deal successfully with the practical work of life — 
whether the spur of action lie in domestic management, 
in the conduct of a profession, in trade or commerce, in 
social organization, or in political government. And the 
training which gives efficiency in dealing with these 
various affairs is of all others the most useful in practical 
life. Moreover, it is the best discipline of character, for 
it involves the exercise of diligence, attention, self-denial, 
judgment, tact, knowledge of and sympathy with others. 

2. The path of success in business is invariably the 
path of common sense. 

3. The business community demands well-trained 
minds, capable of grasping details and carrying out in- 
structions in a correct and orderly manner. 

4. A sacred regard for the principles of justice, 
forms the basis of every transaction, and regulates the 
conduct of the upright man of business. 

5. If in business such methods are practiced, if 
such aims are followed as destroy the man, however 
great the returns in money, it is worse than a failure ; 
for the man it was destined to make, it has destroyed. 

6. The young man who would succeed, must have 
a keen eye for the best facilities for doing business, for 
the most ingenious devices, or he will soon find himself 
drifting to the rear. 

7. Business is a combination of nerve and conser- 
vatism. Experience and a good head must determine 
how far to go in either direction. 

8. The qualities of mind which enable a man to 
grow prosperous in business, are, to a certain extent, 



325 

inherent in character, but may be cultivated. If the 
natural bent is not there, the possibility of success is 
always less, and a mere inclination for a commercial life 
were better abandoned if the stronger talent, with a pos- 
sibility of success, manifests itself. 

9. The young man who is seeking a sound business 
education, must make up his mind to follow a disciplined 
course of life, to wait patiently while working hard, to 
begin modestly before rising high, to eschew the pleas- 
ant indulgence which waste time, strength and money, 
and to take his place in the world of men, not as a rival 
and a bully, but as a comrade and co-worker. 

10. Essential elements of success in business are 
adaptibility to the calling, hard work, strict attention to 
business and honest dealing. 

11. The young man starting in business must be 
resourceful, and quick to meet an emergency, if he would 
succeed. 

12. Sooner or later every business man finds that 
persistence, patience in mastering the small things in his 
business, and hard work, are necessary to his success, 
and that he must acquire these habits in order to succeed. 

13. No young man is fitted for business life, who is 
not in excellent physical trim, and who neglects to keep 
himself in this condition. 

14. Attention, application, accuracy, method, 
punctuality and dispatch, are the principal qualities re- 
quired for the efficient conduct of business of any sort. 

15. Business habits, cultivated and disciplined, are 
found useful in every pursuit — whether in politics, lit- 
erature, science, or art. 

16. Successful business men are those who are striv- 
ing to render the best service to the people. 

17. The business world is full of prizes for the 
brainy man, and education will teach such a one to use 
his brains to the best advantage. 

18. Habits of business do not relate to trade merely, 
but apply to all the practical affairs of life — to every- 
thing that has to be analyzed, to be organized, to be pro- 
vided for, to be done. 



326 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 6. Surroundings. \ 

We are living, we are dwelling, 

In a grand and awful time; 
In an age on ages telling, 

To be living is sublime. — Anon. 

i. Accident, chance, environment, location of birth- 
place, poverty, lack of early opportunities or education, 
generally have more to do with your position in life than 
free choice. 

2. A noble, high-minded, honorable man, can ele- 
vate his surroundings, however humble they may be. 

3. Instead of changing yourself with your surround- 
ings, you may make your surroundings take on your hue, 
and you see in them only the reflection of yourself. 

4. If your environments impede your progress, rise 
above them. 

5. Improve yourself and let your surroundings be 
determined by an improved manhood. 

6. What your social life-work may be, will depend 
entirely on surroundings and opportunity. 

7. While it is true that surroundings have much to 
do with conduct ; environment with success ; it still re- 
mains a fact that your deeds find only their occasion in 
the conditions of life ; the cause is in the character. 

8. Circumstances only affect, they never create 
character. You determine your surroundings and never 
the surroundings you. 

9. Give a man power and a field in which to use it, 
and he must accomplish something. He may not become 
all that he desires and dreams of, but his life cannot be a 
failure. 

10. Man is formed through the forces and action of 
such apparent needs and necessities, as his peculiar sur- 
roundings make. A strong, manful, self-reliant character, 
can no more spring from surroundings where little per- 
sonal effort is required, than a flow of water from a dry 
fountain. 

11. It is part of your nature, and wholly within 



327 

your power, greatly to change and to take advantage of, 
your circumstances ; so that you can rise much superior 
to your natural surroundings, simply because you can 
thus vary and improve the surroundings. 

12. Surroundings, which men call unfavorable, can- 
not prevent the unfolding of your powers. 

13. While it is true that your circumstances or en- 
vironments do affect you, in most things, they do not pre- 
vent your growth. 

14. God is responsible for the manner of a man's 
success, because that is largely determined by his sur- 
roundings ; but, for the success itself, the man alone is 
always and everywhere responsible. 

15. Men are moulded by their surroundings and be- 
come transformed into the likeness of their outlook. 

16. Every person is effected, more or less, accord- 
ing to the strength of his individuality, by his environ- 
ment, which is not always of his own choosing. 

17. There is something in circumstances but, as a 
rule, the best man does win the best place, and persistent 
merit does succeed. 

18. A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring 
success from inhospitable surroundings, is the price of 
all great achievement. 

19. It may be true, in rare instances, that circum- 
stances make the man. On the other hand, it is true that 
the man makes the circumstances. 

20. The best men do not always get the best places ; 
circumstances have a great deal to do with position, 
salaries, and station in life. 

21. You must ever stand upright, happen what may, 
and for this end you must cheerfully resign yourself to 
the varied influence of this many-colored life. 

22. What seem like accidental occurrences, some- 
times show you your true bent, your real work in the 
world, and determine your course in life. 

23. Men's characters and habits are not influenced 
so much by the peculiarities of family and race, as by the 
physical features of their native land and mode of life — 
things by which they are supported and by which they 
live. 



328 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 7. Competition. 

The heights of great men reached and kept 

Were not attained by sudden flight, 
But they, while their companions slept, 

Were toiling upward in the night. — Longfellow. 

1. Competition is the great law of success. In the 
educational world, competition is a great and powerful 
factor. 

2. An educated man, with proper staying power, 
will stand the best chance of success in the business 
world. 

3. In proportion as you are hard pressed in compe- 
tition it is of the sternest necessity for you to choose the 
right aim, so as to be able to throw the whole of your 
energy and enthusiasm into the struggle for success. 

4. Life should always have enough competition to 
keep the edge tools of the brain sharp and bright. 

5. Opposing circumstances create strength. 

6. The moment man is relieved of opposition or 
friction, that moment he often ceases to struggle and 
therefore ceases to grow. 

7. There is no possible success without some oppo- 
sition as a fulcrum ; force is always aggressive and 
crowds something. 

8. It is the difficulties that scare and keep out un- 
worthy competitors. 

9. If competition troubles you, work away ; your 
competitor is but a man. 

10. He that wrestles with you strengthens your 
nerves and sharpens your skill. 

n. Your antagonist is your helper. 

12. Post yourself thoroughly on your competi- 
tor's side of the question as well as your own. 

13. No one can engage in any work without incur- 
ring opposition. 

14. Competition demands application and diligence, 
if you would not be beaten. 

15. Opposition gives greater power of resistance. 



329 

16. A man's enemies are often the making of him. 

17. Possibly your enemy has some virtues which 
you need. 

18. A good man will, as much as possible, strive to 
be shaken out of himself, and learn to study the excel- 
lences of persons and parties to whom he is naturally 
opposed. 

19. The educational advantages of money-making: 
the planning, this way and that, to make a profit, the ex- 
ercise of foresight, spurring the imagination and the 
reasoning faculties, the constant daily rubbing of wit 
against wit — these are the factors of self-education which 
competition teaches. 

20. You get needed training in coming in contact 
with men. Your wits are sharpened. 

21. The perpetual attritition of mind on mind, rasps 
off the rough edges of impractical life, and gives polish to 
character. It teaches patience, perseverance, forbear- 
ance, and application. It teaches method and system, by 
compelling you to crowd the most possible into every 
day and hour. 

22. It is ever the survival of the fittest. The 
stronger use the weaker, and the unfit become extinct. 

23. The highest working qualities are best trained 
by active and systematic contact with others, in the 
affairs of daily life. 

24. The living principle of constant work, of abund- 
ant occupation, of practical contact with men in the 
affairs of life, has in all times been the best ripener of the 
energetic vitality of strong natures. 

25. It is by mixing with the world that you find 
your chief sphere of duty, that you learn the discipline of 
work, and that you educate yourself in that patience, dili- 
gence, and endurance which shape and constitute char- 
acter. 

26. By mixing with the world, you encounter the 
difficulties, trials, and temptations which, according as 
you deal with them, give color to your entire after life ; 
and there, too, you become subject to the great discipline 
of suffering, from which you learn far more than from the 
safe seclusion of the study or the cloister. 



330 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 8. Talents. 

Talents angel bright, 
If wanting worth, are shining instruments 

In ambition's hand, to finish faults 
Illustrious, and give infamy renown. — Young. 

1. Natural talents are not to be depreciated, nor 
should they be neglected. Cultivate them, render them 
serviceable at all times and on all occasions; not con- 
fining their usefulness to great emergencies that may 
never come. 

2. A young man ought to succeed in any occupa- 
tion for which he has a natural talent, and which permits 
him to be honest in his dealings. 

3. The safest plan is to improve the talents which 
you are sure you possess. 

4. Cleverness will aid talent, but without cultiva- 
tion and direction, it only makes the failure of its pos- 
sessor more conspicuous. 

5. The foundation of talent is imagination, which 
is sensibility of mind. 

6. You may bury your talents, but not one of them 
can ever stay buried. Somewhere, some day, they will 
rise up and demand their rights. 

7. Nature neither gives nor withholds her natural 
talents as an excuse for aimless work. She does not 
place the mark of genius on the brow as an especial seal 
of God's approval, except as it accomplishes results that 
He commends. 

8. First-class talent is always in demand ; never 
below par. 

9. Talent is by no means rare in this world ; nor 
even is genius. 

10. Every man has some natural aptitude. 

11. The talent of success is nothing more than 
doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever 
you do, without a thought of fame. 



33i 

12. A small talent, if kept within its limits, and 
rightly discharges its task, may reach the goal, just as 
well as a great one. 

13. Those who fail, as a rule, desert the line of their 
talent, and do not stick to what nature intended them 
for. 

14. No man ever made an ill figure who understood 
his own talents, nor a good one who mistook them. 

15. Guard against a talent which you cannot hope 
to practice in perfection. 

16. The barriers are not yet erected, which shall 
shut out aspiring talent. 

17. Unrewarded talent will not long remain uncom- 
pensated. It cannot be concealed. 

18. To cultivate the talents and gifts possessed by 
everybody, in greater or less degree, to the best of your 
individual ability, without reference to others, is your 
paramount duty. 

19. Do not mistake mere liking for talent. 

20. It takes superior talents to do big things, even 
when the means are at hand. 

21. Everybody is endowed with one or more tal- 
ents; it remains with you to decide whether or not you 
will develop them. 

22. Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never 
desert your line of talent. 

23. Well-matured and well-disciplined talent, is 
always sure of a market, but it must not cower at home 
and expect to be sought for. 

24. You must discover the bias of your nature, and 
not wait for the proclivity to make itself manifest. 

25. It is only by mixing freely in the world, that 
you can form an estimate of your own capacity. 

26. Do not go outside your part, for whatever part 
in life you may be cast. 

2.7. What you lack is not more talents, but more 
purpose with those you have. 

28. What you like to do best of all, that you should 
do and try to do better than any one else. That is legit- 
imate emulation. 



332 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 9. Merit. 

There's a charm in independence, — 

To feel that you have won 
The prizes due to merit 

By the labor you have done; 
To feel that, single handed, 

While your neighbor stood aside, 
You have gained the meed of courage, 

The reward of honest pride. — Anon. 

1. The passport to success is merit. If you are 
earnest, persistent, and self-reliant, you will succeed by 
your own merit, whether you are helped or not. 

2. Every employer is on the lookout for marked 
merit, and even if he does not recognize your superior 
effort, others will, and you will soon find your proper 
place. 

3. Accuracy in everything should be attempted, as 
it is a badge of merit ; and any one with a reputation for 
its constant practice will gain the confidence of others, 
and win his way where another with known careless 
habits will fail. 

4. No man can stay on top simply because he is put 
there. His rating will be determined by his ability and 
his performance. 

5. Employers are as anxious to get good service, 
as workmen to obtain good employment. 

6. After giving luck all possible credit, you know 
that, in the long run and with few exceptions, real merit 
wins. 

7. Merit procures you the esteem of men of sense, 
and good fortune that of the public. 

8. A rich boy may get and hold a place on account 
of his wealth or influence ; but in the works, merit alone 
will enable a man to hold a place long. 

9. Merit, as a rule, gets the reward. 

10. If the possessor of capacity sought to hide him- 
self, he would be discovered and induced to employ his 
ability for the benefit of those who need it. 

11. Where success depends on merit, instead of 



333 

favor, as it always should, intelligence, industry, and 
honesty, are the three most necessary qualities. 

12. There is really no more personal merit attach- 
ing to the possession of superior intellectual powers, than 
there is to the succession to a large estate. The merit 
comes from the use of the powers or the estate. 

13. When big work is to be done, when the big 
position is to be filled, it is the man of merit that is 
wanted. 

14. There is but one straight road to success, and 
that is merit. 

15. This is a busy world, and men have no time to 
hunt about in obscure places for retiring merit. They 
prefer to take a man at his own estimate until he proves 
himself unworthy. 

16. It is not capital that your superiors require, it 
is the man who has proved that he has the business 
habits which create capital. 

17. The commercial world bows to the successful 
business man, Even in the remotest hamlet the hustler 
is admired. 

18. Capacity never lacks opportunity. It cannot 
remain undiscovered, because it is sought by too many 
anxious to utilize it. 

19. The great distinction should be remembered, 
that while money can buy quantity, there is something 
beyond its limitations, and that is quality. 

20. There is no service so low and simple, neither 
so complex and high, in which the young man of ability 
and willing disposition, cannot readily and almost daily, 
prove himself capable of greater trust and usefulness. 

21. Nothing has more to do with forming a strong 
character, and ability of a high order, than constant cul- 
tivation of a love of excellence. 

22. Though the reputation of men of genuine char- 
acter may be of slow growth, their true qualities cannot 
be wholly concealed. They may be misrepresented by 
some, and misunderstood by others, misfortune and 
adversity may, for a time, overtake them ; but, with 
patience, they will eventually inspire the respect and 
command the confidence which they really deserve. 



334 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 10. Deserts. 

The tissue of the life to be 

We weave with colors all our own; 

And in the field of destiny, 

We reap as we have sown. — Whittier. 

1. Conduct yourself so as to deserve the best that 
can come to you, and the consciousness of your own 
proper behavior will keep you in spirits if it should not 
come. 

2. He alone is trusted who possesses that priceless, 
peerless treasure — good character. 

3. In the long run a man will rise and prosper in 
almost exact proportion to his real value to the business 
world. He will rise or fall according to his ability. 

4. Some prize is open to most every one who 
deserves it. 

5. It is not the salary, but the man who draws it, 
that is at fault, if the salary continues small. 

6. The difference in the lives of men, is not in any 
great degree due to the difference in their opportunities ; 
it is due to the difference in the men themselves. 

7. You may be pretty certain, that persons whom 
all the world treats ill, deserve entirely the treatment 
they get. 

8. For those who have the energy, the persever- 
ance, and knowledge, there is a ripe harvest always 
waiting. 

9. A man's opportunity, usually has some relation 
to his ability. It is an opening for a man of his talents 
and means. It is an opening for him to use what he has, 
faithfully and to the utmost. It requires toil, self-denial 
and faith. 

10. Every employer has his eyes on the brightest, 
the most energetic, and the most determined youth, and 
will generally advance him when the opportunity comes. 

11. If the job be long, the pay will be greater; if 
the task be hard, the more competent you must be to 
do it. 



335 

12. First deserve and then desire. Deserve success 
and it will come. 

13. Qualities that make men really valuable are 
recognized, and the places to be filled are seeking men to 
fill them. 

14. The confidence and approbation of your fellow 
human beings, is the highest premium placed on doing 
good and being good. 

15. The first requirement is to be fitted for better 
and higher things ; the second is to attain them. Prepara- 
tion comes by painful steps and slow ; promotion comes 
frequently to the earnest man as a surprise. 

16. No honest, heroic work ever failed of reward. 
It may not be the particular reward that the worker set 
out to win, but something richly worth the toiling for 
is bound up with all labor, for this is one of God's beau- 
tiful laws. 

17. What ought rather to be rewarded is the 
endeavor, the struggle and the obedience ; for it is the 
youth who does his best, though endowed with an infe- 
riority of natural powers, that ought above all others to 
be encouraged. 

18. The world is always hunting for efficient men ; 
a man who can do things ; a man with executive ability ; 
a man who has transmuted every bit of his knowledge 
into practical power, and has learned to bring it out with 
great energy, on whatever he undertakes ; this is the kind 
of man who is always in demand. 

19. Too many youths enter on the business to which 
they are assigned in a languid, half-hearted way, and do 
their work in a slipshod manner ; the consequence being 
that they inspire neither admiration nor confidence on the 
part of their superiors, and cut off almost every chance 
of success. 

20. Every man is almost sure to overrate his own 
importance. Your friends flatter you, and your own heart 
still more. The judgment of your enemies, though more 
severe, is more likely to be correct. 

21. Intelligent, persevering effort, is sure to meet 
with reward. 



336 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 11. Success. 

Success it is 
To front the angry tumult of the world 
With right for comrade; faithfully to work; 
To wear contentment shining- on the brow. — Amos R. Wells. 

1. Exceptional intellectual ability is not needed to 
secure success. Average men run the business affairs of 
the world, and the highest places are at the command of 
such men, provided that they display fidelity, industry and 
intelligence, and are vitalized by character. 

2. There is nothing else which has such a magical 
effect on the brain, the nervous system, the whole man 
in fact, as the consciousness of achieving that on which 
his heart is set. Achievement acts like a tonic on the 
whole system, it quickens the circulation, stimulates the 
digestion, and enlarges hope. 

3. Success is the accomplishment of the laudable 
life-purpose of a man of natural or cultivated parts, who 
has found an object in life worth living for, and has 
worked honestly and perseveringly to attain it. 

4. True success is many-sided, and consists in the 
symmetrical development, to the highest possible extent, 
of all the higher qualities of your nature. 

5. The men who, in addition to success in business, 
accomplish the most in promoting the common good and 
in raising character, are the real representatives of 
success. 

6. From the humblest craft to the most exalted, in 
order to succeed, it is requisite to have intelligence and 
brains. 

7. Genuine success, is the kind that is helpful to 
others, as well as to the one who is striving. 

8. Success is rightly to be expected, and waits your 
winning in far more cases than you realize. 

9. True success, is when a fair share of this world 
does not cost either moral, or intellectual, or physical 
health or life. 



337 

io. Keep steadily before you the fact, that all true 
success depends at last on yourself. 

ii. Success worth the having, is not merely making 
money ; it is the keeping a fair name and clear conscience 
in doing it, and living for something better than gain. 

12. A worthy life is the best success, whether it is 
attained by wealth or poverty. 

13. The man who does the very best he can under 
all circumstances, who makes the most of his ability and 
opportunities, who helps his fellow men whenever it is 
in his power to do so, who gives the best of himself to 
every occasion, who is loyal and true in his friendships, 
kindly, charitable, and magnanimous toward all, is a suc- 
cessful man. 

14. Success is a growth, is expansion, is the unfold- 
ing of the divine nature of man, of all that is god-like 
within him. 

15. There is really very little connection between 
the accumulation of money and real success. 

16. Success does not run to meet you. It is you who 
must run to meet success. Persistent, earnest endeavor ; 
observance of all set rules of society; a willingness to 
imbibe knowledge and information ; alertness ; affability ; 
pleasantness and tact ; are necessary qualities. 

17. Any man is successful who does well what 
comes to his hand, and who works to improve himself so 
that he may do it better. 

18. Pure, upright living, and steady devotion to 
principle, are the surest foundations of any success worth 
having. 

19. Success lies, not in achieving what you aim at, 
but in aiming at what you ought to achieve. There may 
be so-called success which is really a failure, and a failure 
which is truly a success. 

20. He is really the most successful, who enriches 
his country the most, who gives himself with his money, 
who opens wider the door of opportunity to those about 
him, whose beneficence and kindness enrich his neigh- 
bors. 



338 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI. Part 12. Luck. 

There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them how we will. — Shakespeare. 

1. All successful men have agreed in one thing: 
They believed that things go not by luck but law. 

2. Notwithstanding all that is said about lucky hits, 
the best kind of success in every man's life is not that 
which comes by accident. 

3. Luck never brightens the mind, never purifies or 
ennobles the heart, never sweetens the cup of bitterness, 
never softens the heavy hands of poverty, and never 
lightens the oppressive burdens of life. 

4. Business success is never attained through luck, 
but is due to wonderful energy and foresight, good, sound 
judgment and ambition, and not to any supernatural 
source. 

5. Excepting in rare instances, luck has nothing to 
do with success. It is no stroke of genius, but just the 
exercise of plain, plodding common sense, oftentimes the 
persistence in dry, dreary drudgery. 

6. No man ever prospered by luck, unless it was the 
luck of working hard, and maintaining honor and integ- 
rity. 

7. Rarely is there luck for idle, dawdling, nerveless 
men and women. 

8. Men of force and grit, men who are not afraid of 
hard work, never complain of luck. 

9. Accidental circumstances are nothing, except to 
men who have been trained to take advantage of them. 

10. Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men 
believe in cause and effect. 

11. What you do not seek you rarely if ever find. 

12. A good character, good habits, and iron industry 
are impregnable to the assaults of ill luck. 

13. There is no luck for all practical purposes, to 
him who is not striving, and whose senses are not all 
eagerly attent. What are called accidental discoveries 



339 

are almost invariably made by those who are looking for 
something. 

14. The lucky man is the man who sees and grasps 
his opportunity. 

15. Luck is only another word for good manage- 
ment in practical affairs. 

16. Those who look into practical life, will find 
that fortune is usually on the side of the industrious, as 
the winds and waves are on the side of the best nav- 
igator. 

17. Things over which you have no control, do 
sometimes appear to help to win in the race of life. 

18. There is an amount of luck in the amount of 
success which crowns the efforts of different men; but 
it will usually be found that the sagacity with which the 
efforts are directed and the energy with which they are 
prosecuted, measure pretty accurately the luck contained 
in the results achieved. 

19. To be thrown on your own resources, is to 
be cast into the very lap of fortune. 

20. Knowledge, energy, and push, annul luck. 

21. Only he who determines to rise superior to 
what is commonly meant by destiny, will ever achieve 
great success. 

22. Fortune always finds those who are fitted. 

23. Fate recedes as knowledge advances. 

24. You carry your destiny in your own bosom. 
Fate is but the deepest current of your nature. 

25. Many a robust, magnificent nature, has been 
hopelessly withered and shriveled by the hot blast of 
so-called good fortune. 

26. Fate is unpenetrated causes. 

27. Virtue and happiness and character are too 
precious commodities to be the sport and traffic of for- 
tune. 

28. Nearly all successful men know that they are 
the causes of their own success. They do not wait 
around for luck to turn up and help them. 

29. Diligence is the mother of good luck. 



340 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 1. Misfortune. 

Nothii.g is a misery 
Unless our weakness apprehend it so: 
We cannot be more faithful to ourselves, 
In anything- that's manly, than to make 
111 fortune as contemptible to us 
As it makes us to others. — Beaumont and Fletcher. 

1. It is in misfortune that the character of the up- 
right man shines forth with the greatest luster; and 
when all else fails, he takes his stand on his integrity 
and courage. 

2. When things go hard with you, when everything 
seems to go against you, when you are thwarted on every 
side, when the sky is dark and you can see no light; 
that is just the time to exhibit your mettle, to show what 
you are made of. If there is anything in you, adversity 
will bring it to light. 

3. Afflictions often prove but blessings in disguise. 

4. A well-balanced mind is the best remedy against 
affliction. 

5. In the experience of life, it is found that the 
wholesome discipline of adversity, in strong natures, 
usually carries with it a self-preserving influence. 

6. The great danger in adversity, is that you permit 
yourself to be narrowed and soured in your feelings. 

7. Adversity means different things to different peo- 
ple. The quality of the man weighs as much as the qual- 
ity of the happening. 

8. To be worth anything, character must be capable 
of standing firm on its feet in the world of daily work, 
temptation, and trial ; and able to bear the wear and tear 
of actual life. 

9. Affliction is a school of virtue. It corrects levity 
and interrupts the confidence of sinning. 

10. Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, 
which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain 
dormant. 

11. Rashness is the faithful but unhappy parent of 
misfortune. 



34i 

12. He that has never known adversity, is but half 
acquainted with others, or with himself. 

13. The first lesson in the art of living, is to learn 
the value of misfortune. 

14. There are natures which blossom and ripen 
amidst trials, which would only wither and decay in an 
atmosphere of ease and comfort. 

15. It is not prosperity so much as adversity, not 
wealth so much as poverty, that stimulates the persever- 
ance of strong and healthy natures, rouses their energy 
and aevelops their character. 

16. None can expect exemption from trial and vicis- 
situde, and when these misfortunes come, they should be 
encountered with a brave spirit, and a determination to 
deserve better for the future. 

17. There is a close kinship in trouble. There are 
no gentlemen on board sinking ships ; every man is then 
taken for what he is practically worth. 

18. It never yet happened to any man, since the be- 
ginning of the world, nor ever will, to have all things ac- 
cording to his desires, or to whom fortune was never op- 
posite and adverse. 

19. Adversity exasperates fools, dejects cowards, 
draws out the faculties of the wise and industrious, puts 
the modest to the necessity of trying their skill, awes the 
opulent and makes the idle industrious. 

20. Evils are more to be dreaded from the sudden- 
ness of their attack, than from their magnitude or their 
duration. 

21. Adversity borrows its sharpest sting from impa- 
tience. 

22. You cannot escape from anxiety and labor— it is 
the destiny of humanity. Those who shirk from facing 
trouble, find that trouble comes to them. 

23. It takes will-power, in the face of greatly de- 
pressing circumstances, to turn the face sunward and to 
find the silver lining behind the clouds that hang like a 
pall over the present; but it can be done, and must, and 
this not only for yourself, but for others who are weakly 
waiting to see whether you will face the blast, or be 
bowed and torn by it, before they know which course 
to take. 



342 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 2. Failure. 

Not all who seem to fail have failed indeed; 

Not all who fail have therefore worked in vain; 

For all our acts to many issues lead. — Politics for the People. 

1. You must not blame your failures to hard luck 
and unkind fate. It is lodged in you. You may not be 
able to control your circumstances, but you can control 
yourself in the midst of them. 

2. Failure often leads a man to success, by arousing 
his latent energy, by firing a dormant purpose, by awak- 
ening powers which were sleeping. 

3. One who is out of his place cannot get posses- 
sion of himself. He must fill the niche which nature made 
for him, or he will be a failure. He must feel the whole 
of himself, all of his faculties, his entire being tugging 
away at his life aim, if he would make the most possible 
of himself. 

4. An honorable defeat is better than a mean vic- 
tory, and no one is really the worse for being beaten, un- 
less he loses heart. 

5. Failure is not defeat, if you remain true to what 
you know is right and noble. 

6. The triumph of a just cause may come late ; but 
when it does come, it is due as much to those who failed 
in their first efforts, as to those who succeeded in their 
last. 

7. To contemplate failure, to think of yourself as 
unlucky and destined not to succeed, is to court failure. 

8. Failure is only endeavor temporarily off the 
track. 

9. Failure comes from an under-estimate of your- 
self as truly as from an over-estimate. You are practi- 
cally as strong and purposeful as you think yourself. 

10. You cannot pursue a worthy object steadily and 
persistently, with all the powers of your mind, and yet 
make your life a failure. 

11. The man who looks to others for help, instead 
of relying on himself, will fail. 



343 

12. Complete failure will come, sooner or later, 
to every man who does not subscribe to the principles 
of rectitude. 

13. If you start out in life as a failure, you will end 
as one, unless you get thoroughly waked up in some way. 

14. Nothing, except crime, is so humiliating as the 
consciousness of being considered a failure, when you 
have the ability to succeed. The mind constantly rebels 
against the inferior position into which it has been 
forced. 

15. Defeats and failures have played a great part in 
the history of success. 

16. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, 
inasmuch as every discovery of what is false, leads you 
to seek earnestly after what is true ; and every fresh ex- 
perience points out some form of error, which you shall 
afterwards carefully avoid. 

17. Most people fail, because they do not deserve to 
succeed. They set about their work in the wrong way, 
and no amount of experience seems to improve them. 

18. Failures in sensible men, incite to better self- 
management, and greater tact of self-control, as a means 
of avoiding them in the future. 

19. Failure, to the man who learns, means expe- 
rience, and experience is equipment, and equipment is 
wealth. 

20. If you once get a thirst for education, get your 
ambition fired to do something, there is very little danger 
of failure. 

21. There is only one real failure in life possible, 
and that is not to be true to the best you know. 

22. Defeats and failures are great developers of 
character. 

23. Do not be afraid of defeat. You are never so 
near to victory as when defeated in a good cause. 

24. Many, who have seemed to fail utterly, have 
often exercised a more potent and enduring influence 
on their race than those whose career has been a course 
of uninterrupted successes. 

25. Failures are but the pillars of success. 



344 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 3. Sorrow. 

And light is mingled with the gloom, 

And joy with grief; 

Divinest compensations come, 

Through thorns of judgment mercies bloom 

In sweet relief. — Whittier. 

1. Sorrow asks for sympathy, aches to let its griefs 
be known and shared by a kindred spirit. To find such 
is to dispel the loneliness from life. To have a heart 
which you can trust and into which you can pour your 
griefs and your doubts and your fears, is to take the edge 
from grief, and the sting from doubt, and the shade from 
fear. 

2. The sum of life's sorrows does not arise from the 
crushing weight of one or two heavy providences, but 
from the hardships, or thoughtlessness, or want of gener- 
osity, or want of sympathy of your fellow-man. 

3. As years pass, you find the world to be a place of 
sorrow as well as of joy. 

4. From the deepest sorrow, the patient and 
thoughtful mind will gather richer wisdom than pleasure 
ever yielded. 

5. Griefs knit two hearts in closer bonds than hap- 
piness ever can ; and common sufferings are far stronger 
links than common joys. 

6. Suffering chastens and sweetens the nature, 
teaches patience and resignation, and promotes the deep- 
est as well as the most exalted thought. 

7. Suffering, patiently and enduringly borne, is one 
of the noblest attributes of man. There is something so 
noble in the quality as to lift it into the highest regions 
of heroism. 

8. Whoever has the power of concentrating his at- 
tention, and controlling his will, can emancipate himself 
from most of the minor miseries of life. 

9. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest 
souls. 

10. Suffering is not necessary to man's happiness, 



345 

any further than it goes to correct his irregularities, and 
to call him back to the path of duty. Its mission is ac- 
complished when this is effected, and it will finally dis- 
appear, if the causes which produce it are removed. 

ii. Men are frequently wretched and miserable, be- 
cause they have despised the warnings of conscience. 

12. Sorrows will come sometimes, as a matter of 
course, but they need not come as frequently as they do, 
if you do not encourage them ; you often make your own 
sorrows, let trifles annoy you, grow impatient and fretful 
at small troubles, and render yourself and everybody else 
uncomfortable by your unhappy mood. 

13. Only people who are capable of loving strongly, 
can also suffer great sorrow; but this same necessity of 
loving, serves to counteract their grief, and heals them. 
For this reason, the moral nature of man is more active 
than the physical. 

14. Probably the major part of your griefs are born, 
nourished, and perfected, entirely in an anxious, imagin- 
ative brain. 

15. Sorrow is, in some mysterious way, linked with 
joy and associated with tenderness. 

16. You can never be the judge of another's grief. 
That which is sorrow to one, to another is joy. 

17. No man can learn from the sufferings of an- 
other ; he must suffer himself. 

18. Gird your heart with silent fortitude, suffering 
yet hoping all things. 

19. You will find much in your life to try you, and 
show the kind of material of which you are made. 

20. Suffering becomes beautiful when you bear 
great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insen- 
sibility, but through greatness of mind. 

21. The cement of your heart is mixed with tears, 
and nearly all your deep affections have their beginning 
in some sorrowful emotion. 

22. Sorrow's best antidote is employment. 

23. Sorrow comes unbidden ; but comfort waits for 
an invitation. Solace is for those who seek it. 

24. Suffering is a misfortune as viewed from one 
side, and a discipline as viewed from the other. 



346 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 4. Difficulties. 

The wise and active conquer difficulties 
By daring to attempt them. — Rowe. 

i. Difficulties may intimidate the weak, but they 
act only as a wholesome stimulus to men of resolution 
and valor. 

2. The apprenticeship of difficulty, is one which the 
greatest of men have had to serve. It is usually the best 
stimulus and discipline of character. It often evokes 
powers of action that, but for it, would have remained 
dormant. 

3. A difficulty is a thing to be overcome ; grapple 
with it at once ; facility will come with practice ; and. 
strength and fortitude with repeated effort. Thus the 
mind and character may be trained to an almost perfect 
discipline, and enabled to act with a grace, spirit and lib- 
erty, almost incomprehensible to those who have not 
passed through a similar experience. 

4. Difficulty is the soil in which all manly qualities 
best flourish ; and the true worker in any sphere is con- 
tinually coping with difficulties. 

5. In all accomplishment, there is difficulty; the 
greater the work, the greater the pains necessary to ac- 
complish it. 

6. It is the surmounting of difficulties that makes 
heroes. 

7. Grappling with difficulties is the surest way of 
overcoming them. 

8. Think your way out of difficulties, never trust to 
chance. But first learn how to think. The first grand 
requisite is self-restraint and the next self-possession. 

9. Difficulties are your best instructors, and your 
mistakes often form your best experience. 

10. There is no vocation or occupation that does 
not present many difficulties, at times almost over- 
whelming; and the young man who allows himself to 
waver every time he comes to a hard place in life, will 
not succeed. 



347 

ii. Difficult things are the only things worth doing ; 
and they are done by a determined will and a strong 
hand. 

12. The school of difficulty, is the best school of 
moral discipline. When difficulties have to be encoun- 
tered they must be met with courage and cheerfulness. 

13. In overcoming difficulties, you must be careful 
not to magnify them, and imagine them to be greater 
than they are. 

14. The more difficulties you have to encounter, 
within and without, the more significant and the higher 
in inspiration your life will be. 

15. Many owe the grandeur of their lives to their 
tremendous difficulties. 

16. Nature, when she adds difficulties, adds brains. 

17. If there were no difficulties, there would be no 
success ; if there were nothing to struggle for, there 
would be nothing to be achieved. 

18. There is, perhaps, no station in life, in which 
difficulties have not to be encountered and overcome, be- 
fore any decided measure of success can be achieved. 

19. Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does 
the body. 

20. Seldom does a man reach a position with which 
he has reason to be satisfied, without encountering diffi- 
culties. 

21. It is good for men to be roused into action and 
stiffened into self-reliance, by difficulty, rather than to 
slumber away their lives in useless apathy and indo- 
lence. 

22. The history of difficulty, would be but a history 
of all the great and good things, that have yet been 
accomplished by men. 

23. There is no more helpful and profiting exercise 
than surmounting obstacles. 

24. Difficulties melt away before the man who car- 
ries about a cheerful spirit, and persistently refuses to be 
discouraged ; while they accumulate before the one who 
is always groaning over his hard luck, and scanning the 
horizon for clouds not yet in sight. 



348 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 5. Disappointment. 

To seek is better than to gain, 

The fond hope dies as we attain; 

Life's fairest things are those which seem, 

The best is that of which we dream. — Whittier. 

1. Discontent ruins everything. A discontented 
man is a curse to himself, and a bugbear to others. He 
is not ready for work nor fit for society. You must get 
above this spirit of unrest, up to contentment, to self- 
control, to serenity of spirit, and placidity of soul, to 
freedom from vexation, envy, jealousy, and that wearing 
friction, that irritater, that disorganizes and destroys 
life's delicate machinery. 

2. No one ever found the world quite as he would 
like it. 

3. Disappointment seldom cures you of expectation, 
or has any other effect, than that of producing a moral 
sentence or peevish exclamation. 

4. The brave, cheerful man will survive his blighted 
hopes and disappointments, take them for just what they 
are, lessons and perhaps blessings in disguise, and will 
march boldly and cheerfully forward in the battle of life. 

5. Lack of self-control is one main source of dis- 
appointment. 

6. Do not take everything too seriously. 

7. Never be cast down by trifles. 

8. The story of human life is that of dreams unful- 
filled, ideals unrealized, goals unattained. Youth steps 
forth with ambition beating high, and paints its concep- 
tion of life in the colors of the dawn ; but days of fierce 
heat beat down, nights of chill close in, and there is fail- 
ure and disappointment. 

9. You must not change your situation, because of 
troubles or disappointments. Every trade and profession 
has its drawbacks ; but it has its pleasures as well. 

10. History is, to a large extent, the record of dis- 
appointments. 

11. Men of mettle turn disappointments into helps. 



349 

12. Young men need to be taught, not to expect a 
perfectly smooth and easy way to the objects of their en- 
deavor or ambition. 

13. Pain may be said to follow pleasure as its 
shadow. 

14. He who grasps at manv enjoyments, is sure to 
be troubled by many disappointments. 

15. By most men the rosy dreams of youth are 
never realized. 

16. He who always complains of the clouds, receives 
little of life's sunshine and deserves less. 

17. Guard carefully against letting discontent ap- 
pear in you. It will be sorrow to your friends, a triumph 
to your competitors, and cannot be productive of any 
good. 

18. One of the principal causes of discontent, is im- 
moderate desires and expectations. 

19. A good man and a wise man may, at times, be 
angry with the world, at times grieved for it ; but be sure 
no man was ever discontented with the world, if he did 
his duty in it. 

20. The honors and emoluments of the world bring 
so many cares with them, that they bring also torture and 
disquietude. 

21. Life is crowned by its lost causes, for a cause 
that has enlisted noblest powers, evoked highest en- 
deavors, won love, consecrated and commanded bravery, 
patriotism, self-sacrifice, can never be utterly lost. 

22. Do not let the thorns which appear in every 
vocation, or temporary despondency or disappointment, 
shake your purpose. 

23. Obstacles that many persons would consider in- 
surmountable, only spur on a man of will and persever- 
ance, and often such men achieve greater distinction than 
they do who have everything in their favor. 

24. The paths to lofty eminence have always been 
circuitous, laborious, and at times threatening. 

25. It is not ease and facility that try men and 
bring out the good that is in them, so much as trial and 
difficulty. 



35o 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII Part 6. Discouragement. 

If what shone afar so grand 

Turn to ashes in the hand. 

On again, the virtue lies 

In the struggle, not the prize. — R. M. Milnes. 

1. Every young man, beginning life in earnest, nat- 
urally feels discouraged at times ; but, if he is made of 
the right kind of stuff, he will fight off the feeling and 
work and wait. 

2. It is impossible for discouragement to paralyze 
a healthy and properly trained character. The misfor- 
tunes will have to be terrible and continued to break 
down such a man ; but if the training is there, the first 
ray of light will reinvigorate the mind, and with renewed 
hope, the deepest troubles will be alleviated if not 
entirely overcome. 

3. No person ought to settle an important question 
when he is discouraged or depressed ; he ought to recog- 
nize such a condition as something abnormal and un- 
healthful — a condition which makes wise judgment and 
right action impossible. 

4. When a youth gets discouraged and does not find 
life what he thought it would be, because he is not doing 
the work he was cut out to do, he easily drifts ; and the 
powers which are not employed in a legitimate way seek 
illegitimate ways. 

5. Do not be discouraged over trifles, or lack of sym- 
pathy. Be not cast down because people fail to believe in 
your ability. Show them that you can and will succeed. 

6. No one is ever beaten unless he is discouraged. 

7. Indulging in the feeling of discouragement, never 
helped any one over a difficulty, and never will. 

8. The man who can be easily discouraged, or 
turned aside from his purpose, the man who has no iron 
in his blood, will never win. 

9. You do not live in a world in which a man can 
afford to be discouraged by trifles. There are real diffi- 
culties enough, with which to fight is to live, and which 
to conquer is to live nobly. 



35i 

io. If you learn to treat your times of depression 
and discouragement as symptoms of disease, and avoid 
deciding or acting when they are on you — to look at 
them as something apart from your best and truest self — 
you will avoid the mistakes into which they will lead, and 
you will do much to overcome them. 

ii. Despondency scarcely entertains as possible, the 
plan which cheerfulness readily works out. Despondency 
gives up the work at the very first discouragement, but 
cheerfulness sings of successes to come. Despondency is 
broken hearted because of the hardness of men's hearts ; 
but cheerfulness remembers the might of the eternal 
hammer, which can break the rock in pieces. 

12. The real causes of despondency are within. At 
the head of the list is physical debility. There is where 
despondency starts. The body, which is the citadel of 
life, has been broken down, and you fall an easy prey to 
every doubt that would harass you. 

13. Industry pays debts while despair increases 
them. 

14. To the great majority, there come hours when 
life loses its song. The effect of despondency is most dis- 
astrous. It produces complete paralysis of effort. It 
unfits and disqualifies for living. 

15. The darkest, dreariest, most depressing spell of 
despondency, that ever made life a burden and the world 
unendurable, can be completely and gloriously cured. 

16. Despondency discrowns manhood. It is a dis- 
ease that saps manhood of its strength. 

17. At intervals, you may feel despondent about 
your progress ; but all who have achieved greatness have 
had to undergo these same enervating and depressing 
periods. 

18. Gloom and depression not only take much out of 
life, but detract greatly from the chances of winning 
success. 

19. The most perilous hour of your life is when you 
are tempted to despond. 

20. A prolific cause of despondency, is a false view 
of life. You see the wrong things. You take your eyes 
off encouragements and look at difficulties. 



352 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 7. Appearance. 

'Tis not the richest plant that folds 
The sweetest breath of fragrance in; 

'Tis not the fairest form that holds 
The mildest, purest soul within. 

— Rufus Dawes. 

i. It is born in man to respect appearances. 

2. You should be ever better than you seem. 

3. Make the very best appearance you can, honestly, 
but stop there. 

4. You cannot long deceive the world, for that other 
self, who ever stands in the shadow of yourself, holding 
the scales of justice, that telltale in the soul, rushes to the 
eye or into the manner and betrays you. 

5. If you observe a man becoming, day by day, 
richer, or advancing in station, or increasing in profes- 
sional reputation, you set him down as a successful man. 

6. The world at large, cannot help forming its judg- 
ment and likings, mainly according to outward conduct. 

7. Dangers are light, if they once seem light ; and 
more dangers have deceived men than have forced them. 

8. That which seems a trifle, may be the secret 
spring which shall move the issues of life and death. 

9. The way to be beautiful without, is to be beauti- 
ful within. 

10. You must not jump to the conclusion, that be- 
cause a man has not succeeded in what he has really 
tried to do with all his might, he cannot succeed in any- 
thing . 

11. A hill ahead is higher than a mountain behind. 

12. Men are all prone to judge of a movement, by 
the character of certain individuals identified with it. If 
they believe in the person, the movement is good ; if they 
distrust him, it is bad. 

13. A man's character and success, are greatly af- 
fected by his friends. A man is known by the company 
he keeps. 

14. The eye speaks with an eloquence and truth- 



353 

fulness surpassing speech. It is the window out of which 
the winged thoughts often fly unwittingly. 

15. A judgment of the character of another, founded 
on a close study of its display in his life, and in all over 
which he has influence, from his clothes to his friends 
and pursuits, is generally fairly correct in its main out- 
lines. 

16. The equivalent of capital, with many young 
men, is their ability to create a good impression, and to 
maintain it by correct bearing. 

17. In civilized society, external advantages make 
you more respected. A man with a good coat on his 
back, meets with a better reception than he who has a 
bad one. 

18. Always endeavor to be really what you would 
wish to appear. 

19. It is as easy to judge, a man by the enemies he 
has made as by his friends. 

20. The peculiarities and oddities of a man, gen- 
erally impress you first ; and it is not until you are better 
acquainted with him, that you begin to look below these 
superficial traits, and to know the better part of him. 

21. Actions are of so mixed a nature, that as men 
pry into them, or observe some parts more than others, 
they take different hues, and put contrary interpretations 
on them. 

22. The world at large judges of a man largely by 
his dress, rather than by his accomplishments. 

23. The style and neatness of your attire, have 
much to do with your success in any respectable calling. 

24. First impressions are always the most lasting 
and, in nearly every instance, are derived from personal 
appearance. 

25. The slovenly, dirty person, by rendering him- 
self physically disagreeable, sets the feelings of others at 
defiance, and is rude and uncivil only in another form. 

26. A man may have a good character and a bad 
reputation, or he may have a good reputation and a bad 
character. The reason of this is, that men form their 
opinions of others from what they appear to be, and not 
from what they really are. 



354 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK 

Book XVII. Part 8. Uncertainty. 

O, many a shaft, at random sent, 
Finds mark the archer little meant. — Scott. 

1. The things you expect people to do they do not 
do, and the things you never look for simply come around 
to show how little you know about fate. 

2. An element of uncertainty permeates every action 
and aspiration of man, but he who deliberately places 
his hopes and happiness in matters of chance and specula- 
tion, is not only jeopardizing his own future usefulness, 
but unfits himself for the service of others. 

3. The decrees of fate are beyond the powers of 
man to avert, but the lesser uncertainties of life may be 
easily warded off and overcome. 

4. Take the lot of the happiest — it is a tangled yarn. 
It is made up of sorrows and joys ; and the joys are all 
the sweeter because of the sorrows. 

5. Apparent trifles often change an entire destiny. 

6. There is no man so great, but he may both need 
the help and service, and stand in fear of the power and 
unkindness, even of the meanest of mortals. 

7. Where one man lives to enjoy the good he has 
in view, ten thousand are cut off in the pursuit of it. 

8. Men become slaves for life, to reputation that 
they are not able to maintain, to wealth that they are not 
strong enough to handle. 

9. A weaker man may sometimes light on truths 
which have escaped a stronger. 

10. A man's success cannot be measured until he 
dies. A business man may be counted among the suc- 
cessful one day, and he may be a bankrupt the next. A 
man in public life may be popular one year, and may be 
forgotten the next. 

11. There is no enterprise on which a man can 
embark his capital, without an element of uncertainty 
attaching thereto. 

12. Many of the great fighters and men of action, 
after perils on land and sea, and heroic deeds that live 
in history, found commonplace ends. 



355 

13. Changing surroundings, personal and social, 
changing standards in morals and religion, and changing 
objects and pursuits, all effect character for better or 
for worse. 

14. He that you now look up to may be your 
servant, and your servant may become your master. 

15. When you heap up riches, you cannot know 
who may spend them. 

16. Everyone knows that there is not always a way 
where there is a will ; that labor does not always conquer 
all things ; that there are things impossible, even to him 
that wills, however strongly ; that one cannot always 
make anything of himself he chooses ; that there are limi- 
tations in his very nature which no amount of will power 
or industry can overcome. 

17. The test of character comes at the unexpected 
time in the unexpected way. 

18. Death comes as suddenly to the rich man as to 
the poor. 

19. Today's losses may be tomorrow's gains. 

20. Money cannot be, at the best, more than a tem- 
porary consolation. 

21. Providence, perhaps has wisely ordained it, that 
the possession of estates should change, like the succes- 
sion of the seasons. 

22. Rapidly acquired wealth, or reputation, is more 
difficult to keep than to acquire. 

23. You brought nothing into this world, and it is 
very certain you can carry nothing out. 

24. What is certain in death, is somewhat softened 
by what is uncertain. 

25. The victory of yesterday is reversed by the de- 
feat of to day ; the star of military glory, rising like a 
meteor, like a meteor has fallen ; disgrace and disaster 
hang on the heels of renown ; victor and vanquished 
presently pass away to oblivion, and the world holds on 
its course, with the loss only of so many lives and so 
much treasure. 

26. Duty and today are yours ; results and futurity 
belong to God. 



356 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK 

Book XVII. Part 9. Temptation. 

He who tempts, though in vain, at last asperses 
The tempted with dishonor foul, supposed 
Not incorruptible of faith, not proof 
Against temptation. — Milton. 

1. You are daily exposed to temptations, whether 
it be of idleness, self-indulgence, or vice. The feeling 
of duty and the power of courage, must resist these 
things at whatever sacrifice of worldly interest. 

2. No young man has a right to remain in a posi- 
tion, if it is possible to get out of it, where he will be 
constantly subjected to the great temptations of pover- 
ty. His self-respect demands that he should get out of 
it. It is his duty to put himself in a position of dignity 
and independence, where he will not be liable at any 
moment to be a burden to his friends, in case of sickness 
or other emergencies. 

3. A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double 
circumspection ; for her beauty will tempt others, her 
poverty herself. 

4. He that cannot decidedly say no, when tempted 
to evil, is on the highway to ruin. He loses the respect 
even of those who would tempt him, and becomes the 
pliant tool and victim of their evil designs. 

5. When a doubtful but attractive future is placed 
before you, there is a great temptation to juggle with 
the wrong, until it seems right ; yet any aim that is im- 
moral, carries in itself, the germ of certain failure, in 
the real sense of the word — failure that is physical and 
spiritual. 

6. Remove temptation, and you erase the whole 
black catalogue of sin. 

7. Every period of life has its peculiar temptations 
and dangers, but youth is the time when you are most 
likely to be ensnared. 

8. The temptations and allurements of the world, 
are very enticing, and often promise personal comfort 






357 

and pleasure, that, for the time being, involve pleasure 
and perhaps profit. 

9. Idle hands and idle thoughts, are easily tempted 
to do things which they ought not to do. 

10. So long as man is alive and free, he will, in one 
way or another, seek that which gives him pleasure, and 
temptation promises pleasure without the effort of earn- 
ing it. But this promise has never been fulfilled, in all 
the history of all the ages. 

11. The world honors those who prove themselves 
beyond the seduction of any tempter. 

12. Great power is alwavs a great temptation, 
whether it be physical, moral, political, or financial. But 
virtue may be strong enough to withstand even that 
temptation. 

13. The best thing you can do, is to make a sacred 
vow, on no occasion and on no account, to keep com- 
pany with persons who will lead you into haunts of dis- 
sipation and debauchery. 

14. One of the chief objects of legislation, is to 
prevent crime, by removing the inducements to com- 
mit it. 

15. Life can never remain passive, and a thousand 
ills come in through the open door of unresisted tempta- 
tion. 

16. No one can ask honestly or hopefully, to be 
delivered from temptation, unless he has himself hon- 
estly and hopefully determined to do the best he can to 
keep out of it. 

17. Every temptation succumbed to, every act of 
meanness or dishonesty, however slight, carries self- 
degradation. It matters not whether the act be success- 
ful or not, discovered or concealed ; the culprit is no 
longer the same, but another person ; and he is pursued 
by a secret uneasiness, by self-reproach, of the workings 
of conscience, which is the inevitable doom of the guilty. 

18. Your adversity will excite temptation in your- 
self, and your prosperity in others. 

19. For all who stand on the brink of the forbidden, 
there is a voice within which declares : "It is wrong." 



358 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 10. Excesses. 

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices 
Make instruments to plague us. — Shakespeare. 

1. There is not an appetite to be gratified, which 
does not pall and turn to be an enemy the moment it 
has become your master. It makes you a slave with all 
his sorrows and degradation, without any of the slave's 
freedom from thought and anticipation. You cannot 
give way to any appetite, without feeling instant and con- 
stant degradation ; and he- who sinks in such a way that 
he despises himself, will soon be a wretch indeed. 

2. No argument need be urged, to show how utterly 
unworthy of his education, of his friends, and of him- 
self, he acts, who so degrades himself as to make the 
appetites and passions of his animal nature the object 
of life, and looks to them for happiness. 

3. Knowledge and strength, beauty and skill, may 
all be abused ; if you neglect or misuse them, you are 
worse off than if you had never had them. 

4. Calamities sent by heaven may be avoided, but 
from those you bring on yourself, there is no escape. 

5. There is nothing more important for you, than 
to resolve not to exhaust yourself nervously and physic- 
ally. 

6. You are in danger from any recreation which 
you love much, for men always give their time freely to 
what they love. 

7. A life exclusively occupied in affairs of business, 
insensibly tends to narrow and harden the character. 

8. Nothing can be more hurtful to a youth, than to 
have his soul sodden with pleasure. The best qualities 
of his mind are impaired ; common enjoyments become 
tasteless, his appetite for the higher kind of pleasure is 
vitiated ; and when he comes to face the work and the 
danger of life, the result is usually aversion and disgust. 

9. Corruption and frivolity in high places never 
fail to exert a pernicious influence on the condition of 
society. They extend to the lower classes, where all 
become alike profligate. 



359 

io. The human machine, it should be remembered, 
is certain to give out after a specified amount of effort, 
use, and exhaustion. 

11. Bad habits, careless living, dissipation, over- 
excitement, over-work, sooner or later bring on exhaus- 
tion — physical, mental, moral. 

12. A man, to get through work well, must not 
overwork himself; for, if he do too much today, the 
reaction of fatigue will come, and he will be obliged to 
do too little tomorrow. 

13. There is danger in a calling which requires 
great expenditure of vitality at long, irregular intervals. 

14. Pleasure is an expenditure of stored force. 
You must save up in order to have a good time. Nature 
is a merciless usurer, and demands heavy interest on her 
advances. 

15. Youth is prone to excess, and once it begins, 
does not know how to stop. 

16. Amusement in moderation is wholesome, and 
to be commended ; but amusement in excess vitiates the 
whole nature, and is a thing to be carefully guarded 
against. 

17. You have no more right to render yourself 
useless by excesses, than to destroy yourself. 

18. Extravagance is the bane of social happiness. 
It has filled the world with misery. It is an irregularity 
that strikes at the very root of the tree of domestic peace. 
It entails wretchedness on what might otherwise be 
happy families. It is a fruitful source of intemperance, 
bankruptcy, and villainy. 

19. Work is good for a child, but you can put such 
heavy burdens on him, as to deform his body and stunt 
his growth. 

20. While all true work is beautiful and holy, it is 
also a fact that excesses are evils — a fact that over-work 
and underpaid work tend to break down instead of 
build up. 

21. Excessive hours of work produce very little. 
There comes a moment in the day's work when it is no 
longer possible to maintain an interest in work. 



360 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 11. Idleness. 

An idler is a watch that" wants both hands; 
As useless if it goes as when it stands. — Cowper. 
i 

I I. Idleness is the nursery of crime. It is that pro- 
lific germ of which all rank and poisonous vices are 
the fruits. It is the source of temptation. 

2. Idleness is the parent of vice ; and vice strikes at 
the very root of social order and happiness. 

3. Indolence consists in the indulgence of a heavy, 
inactive disposition, entreating you to delay, till some 
future time, what ought to be done now. This will beset 
you by day and night, unless you act from principle, and 
a high sense of moral responsibility. 

^4. A man without employment is not a man. He 
does not prove by his works that he is a man. 

5. No work is worse than overwork ; the mind 
preys on itself — the most unwholesome of food. 

6. Indolence as surely runs to dishonesty, as lying. 
They are but different paths of the same road and not 
far apart. 

7. Leisure, relaxation, and amusement, when men 
to be usefully engaged, are indolence. 

8. All efforts, without the design of usefulness, are 
\ of the nature of indolence. 

9. No easy, healthful, idle person was ever chaste, 
if he could be tempted. 

10. Idleness is the strength of bad habits. 

rn. It is indolence which exhausts, not action, in 
which there is life, health and pleasure. 

12. The indolent may contrive that he shall have 
less than his share of the world's work to do, but nature, 
proportioning the instinct to the work, contrives that the 
little shall be much and hard to him. 

13. It is idleness that is the curse of man, not 
labor. Idleness eats the heart out of men as of nations, 
and consumes them as rust does iron. 

14. Idleness and the consciousness of incompetency, 



ought 



361 

should make any man ashamed of himself, and drive him 
to do something that is worth the doing. 
^___ 15. An indolently inclined person can neither make 
nor keep property. 

16. The spirits may be exhausted and wearied by 
employment, but they are utterly wasted by idleness. 

17. If you are idle you are on the way to ruin, and 
there are few stopping places on it. It is rather a preci- 
pice than a road. 

18. Be ashamed to catch yourself idle, when there 
is so much to be done for yourself, your family and your 
country. 

19. There is no room for drones, tramps, or vaga- 
bonds, and those who are not willing to work for a living 
must make room for those ambitious men and women 
who desire to achieve success by lawful methods. 

20. Idleness is a thorough demoralizer of body, soul 
and conscience. 

21. The best preventative against idleness, is to 
start with the deep-seated conviction of the earnestness 
of life. 

22. Perfect inactivity, may bring on a tired state of 
mind and body, not to be exceeded by the effect of the 
most exhausting labor. On the other hand, hard work 
is often so exhilarating, that it operates as an incompar- 
able tonic. 

23. A brain kept in a state of inactivity, loses by 
degrees, its power of perception and judgment. 

24. Doing nothing is apprenticeship to doing 
wrong. 

25. The indolent is also a slave to visionary and 
vagrant ideas and dreams. He makes hobbies of them. 
This is the mental history of all confirmed indolents. 

26. Diligence, and regular employment, are great 
safeguards to purity; for it is the indolent and vacant 
mind that is the most susceptible of improper 
impressions. 

- ~ 27. Out of work has caused more crime and 
wretchedness than almost anything else. 

28. He who is not regularly, systematically em- 
ployed, incurs perpetual risk. 



362 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVII. Part 12. Debt. 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be: 

For loan oft loses both itself and friend; 
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. — Shakespeare. 

i. Few young men would willingly go into debt if 
they could lift the veil of the future, if they could see 
every step of the thorny way to which it leads. If they 
could see the moral degradation, the course of lying, 
prevarication, dishonest subterfuge to avoid meeting 
promised payments, which the borrowing of the first 
dollar, for the gratification of some personal whim or 
luxury, too often involves ; if they could see the grinning 
phantom which robs the harassed debtor of peace by 
day and sleep by night, that stands forever by his side 
mocking at his impotence to shake off the chains by 
which he has bound himself, hand and foot, they would 
shrink back appalled from the sight; they would suffer 
any privation, endure any hardship, rather than become 
the slaves of the grim jailer, debt. 

2. To do your best, you must own every bit of your- 
self. If you are in debt, part of you belongs to your 
creditors. Nothing but actual sin is more paralyzing 
to a young man's energies than debt. 

3. Be content to begin life at the beginning, and to 
wait, as others have done, until your income warrants 
indulgences, before taking them. 

4. Debt is an inexhaustible fountain of dishonesty. 

5. When a debtor is beaten at every point, and the 
law will put her screws on him, there is no depth in the 
gulf of dishonesty into which he will not boldly plunge. 

6. Never run into debt, unless you see a way to 
get out again. 

7. He who incurs debts in striving to maintain a 
style of living beyond his income, is in spirit as dishonest 
as the man who openly picks your pocket. 

8. Debt makes everything a temptation. It lowers 
a man in self-respect, and places him at the mercy of his 



363 

tradesmen and servants. He cannot call himself his own 
master, and it is difficult for him to be truthful. 

9. It is impossible for you to cultivate the graces 
of the mind, or to acquire a fine manner, if you are har- 
assed by debt, or if you are dependent on others for 
your living - . 

10. Debt injures any young man's reputation. 

11. The maelstrom of debt has been the grave of 
thousands of talented, ambitious men, who might have 
won honorable distinction, and the love of their fellow- 
men, in their various fields of endeavor, had they not 
given way at the outset to some petty vice or vanity, and 
in order to gratify it, borrowed money. 

12. A contented mind is a continual feast, but a 
feast that can never be enjoyed by the unhappy victim of 
debt. Corroding care must ever be his companion, rob- 
bing him of strength, sapping his ambition, and destroy- 
ing that peace and tranquility, so absolutely essential to 
the successful pursuit of his occupation or profession. 

13. It is always well to expand, but it is rather 
dangerous to get beyond your income. 

14. It is much easier to practice a little self-denial, 
even to deprive yourself of some necessaries, than to 
suffer the stings of conscience, the torture of being con- 
stantly goaded by creditors, without the means of satis- 
fying them ; the horror of being chained day and night 
to a load from which there is no deliverance ; the humil- 
iating consciousness of being a mere chattel-slave, whose 
time and thought are, in a sense, owned by others. 

15. Often has debt, needlessly and carelessly con- 
tracted, dragged down to shame and ruin, moral and phy- 
sical, the joy of a mother's heart, the pride of a father's 
old age. 

16. In the conduct of business, it is frequently 
necessary, in order to obtain the best results, both to give 
and to get credit, although even this form of borrowing 
would better be, for the benefit of the community, sub- 
ject to limitations. 

17. A lazy person, is the most deplorable, and the 
most unutterable nuisance on earth. 

18. Adversity is the prosperity of the great. 



364 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 1. Man. 

God give us men. A time like this demands 

Strong- minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands; 

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; 

Men who possess opinions and a will; 

Men who have honor — men who will not lie; 

Men who can stand before a demagogue 

And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking; 

Tall men, sun- crowned, who live above the fog 

In public duty, and in private thinking. — Holland. 

1. Although customs universally vary, men in all 
climates and countries are essentially the same. 

2. What a piece of work is man ! how noble in 
reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, 
how express and admirable ! in action, how like an 
angel ! in apprehension, how like a god ! the beauty of 
the world ! the paragon of animals ! 

3. Man is the miracle of miracles — the great 
inscrutable mysery of God. You cannot understand it, 
you know not how to speak of it ; but you may feel 
and know, if you like, that it is verily so. 

4. The ideal man is the one who is a true father, 
neighbor, citizen, workman, business man, and church- 
man. 

5. Man is the battling ground of two great king- 
doms of life — the animal and the spiritual. 

6. Every profession, trade, and social clique, in 
every walk of life, has some peculiar standard of its own, 
by which it judges a gentleman ; but it must be remem- 
bered that you are men before you are gentlemen, and 
that no claims of any profession, institution, or class, 
can replace or supplant those of humanity and citizen- 
ship. 

7. Man is greater than all his acts; — greater than 
any deed he ever does, than any thought he evei thinks, 
than any creed to which he may ever make subscription. 

8. Man has no deeper and surer impression, than 
that the world belongs to and was made for him. This 



365 

impression is deepened, year by year, as he se^s how 
the relations he bears to it increase. 

9. If there is mind in the universe, and if there is 
purpose in the order and movement of the earth, then 
man is the culmination of that purpose, and with refer- 
ence to him were the movements determined and the 
order constituted. 

10. Man exists for culture ; not for what he can 
accomplish, but for what can be accomplished in him. 

11. Man is greater than a world, than systems of 
worlds. There is more mystery in the union of soul with 
the physical man, than in the creation of a universe. 

12. Man was not made to be a business or profes- 
sional machine. To fulfill the object of his being, he 
must be an all-round, fully developed character. 

13. Man is the lord of all the earth. He counts 
the stars in the heavens ; he walks upon the pathways of 
the deep ; he delves from the recesses of the earth her 
hidden treasures to make them useful for his comfort ; 
he has annihilated time and distance, and behold all 
things are under his feet. 

14. Man is a fruit formed and ripened by the 
culture of all the foregoing centuries ; and the living 
generation contains the magnetic current of action and 
example, destined to bind the remotest past with the 
most distant future. 

15. Man is placed in the world not as a finality, 
but as a possibility. 

16. A man's pleasure, as well as duty, brings him 
in contact with womanhood, from the cradle to the 
grave. 

17. Man is the brain, but woman is the heart of 
humanity; he its judgment, she its feeling; he its 
strength, she its grace, ornament and solace. 

18. Let no man speak a word against a woman at 
any time, or mention a woman's name in any company, 
where it should not be spoken. 

19. Men are naturally less amiable and more 
intractable than women. 

20. The question, which will settle your destiny in 
life, is the question of your relation to women. 



3 66 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVI II. Part 2. Woman. 

Seek to be good, but aim not to be great, 

A woman's noblest station is retreat; 

Her fairest virtues fly from public sight. — Lord Lyttelton. 

i. Woman was not meant to be either an unthink- 
ing drudge, or the merely pretty ornament of man's 
leisure. She exists for herself as well as for others ; and 
the serious and responsible duties she is called on to 
perform, in life, require the cultivated head as well as 
the sympathizing heart. 

2. To instruct woman, is to instruct man; to 
elevate her character, is to raise his own; to enlarge her 
mental freedom, is to extend and secure that of the 
whole community. For nations are but the outcomes of 
homes, and peoples of mothers. 

3. Men cannot be sound in mind or morals, if 
women be the reverse; and if the moral condition of a 
people mainly depends on the education of the home, 
then the education of women is to be regarded as a mat- 
ter of national importance. 

4. The world looks to woman, and depends on her, 
for its moral and spiritual advancement. 

5. The influence of woman is the same everywhere. 
Her condition influences the morals, manners, and char- 
acter of the people in all countries. When she is 
debased, society is debased ; when she is morally pure 
and enlightened, society will be proportionately ele- 
vated. 

6. The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, 
filling it with love and purity, is doing something better 
than anything else her hands could do beneath the 
skies. 

7. A girl's noblest ambition should be to prepare 
herself to be a loving and helpful wife, a noble mother, 
and a competent manager of a home. If she is thor- 
oughly competent in these lines, she will hardly need to 
prepare in any other. 



367 

8. Women, as the mothers of the race, the bearers 
and nurses of children, are entitled to special considera- 
tion and care, on account of the physical disabilities 
which these duties entail. 

9. The able housewife must necessarily be an 
efficient woman of business. She must regulate and 
control the details of her home, keep her expenditures 
within her means, arrange everything according to plan 
and S3^stem, and wisely manage and govern those subject 
to her rule. 

10. If there is anything that challenges the unlim- 
ited respect and devotion of the masculine mind, it is 
ability in woman to order well her own household. 

11. If woman is true and tender, loving and heroic, 
and self-devoted — she consciously and unconsciously 
organizes and puts in operation a set of influences that 
do more to mould the destiny of a nation than any man, 
uncrowned by power, possibly can. 

12. To direct the power of the home aright, women, 
as the nurses, trainers and educators of children, need 
all the help and strength that mental culture can give 
them. 

13. In disciplined mental power, woman will find 
a stronger and safer protection against deception and 
imposture, than in mere innocent and unsuspecting 
ignorance ; in moral and religious culture, she will 
secure sources of influence more powerful and enduring 
than in physical attractions ; and in due self-reliance and 
self-dependence, she will discover the truest sources of 
domestic comfort and happiness. 

14. Mothers and daughters, wives and sisters, 
remember that you have the making of the morals of 
the future generation, and rise at once to your high and 
holy duty. 

15. Man may direct the intellect, but woman culti- 
vates the feelings, which mainly determine the charac- 
ter. While he fills the memory, she occupies the heart. 
She makes you love what he can only make you believe, 
and it is chiefly through her you are enabled to arrive at 
virtue. 



368 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 3. Marriage. 

He is the half-part of a blessed man 

Left to be finished by such as she; 

And she a fair divided excellence, 

Whose fulness of perfection lies in him. 

O, two such silver currents, when they join, 

Do glorify the banks that bound them in. — Shakespeare. 

1. Man without woman is only half a man, and his 
nature cries out for the full complement of his being. 

2. For a man to be happy he must have a soul-mate 
as well as a helpmeet. Both must be true, chaste, and 
sympathetic. 

3. The man who is not faithful to his wife, is 
guilty of a high crime against himself, a high crime 
against his wife, a high crime against his children, a 
high crime against society, and a high crime against 
God. To be thus faithful is the solemn promise at mar- 
riage. It is the vital part of the marriage vow. And 
remember, the faithfulness promised and required, is 
one of thought and intent, as well as act. 

4. The causes of marital unhappiness may be 
found, not so much in mistakes of selection before mar- 
riage, as in mistakes after marriage. The relation is in 
some respects a trying one, requiring a broad and toler- 
ant spirit. 

5. Success in marriage, depends on making a sensi- 
ble and not too hasty choice. Similarity of tastes, of 
social position, of education, are desirable ; and too wide 
a disparity of age, should be avoided. 

6. Marriage is an institution of such value to 
society, that it is not to be spoken of in a trivial way. 
The happiness of marriage, depends first on character, 
and next on mutual adaptation. 

7. Young men of bad habits and fast tendencies, 
never marry girls of their own sort, but demand a wife 
above suspicion. 

8. The risks of marriage are for the greater part 
on the woman's side. 



369 

9. There is nothing which so settles the turbulence 
of a man's nature, as his union in life with a high- 
minded woman. There he finds rest, contentment, and 
happiness — rest of brain and peace of spirit. 

10. Marriage, with all its disappointments, has 
contributed more to human happiness and human 
advancement, than any other institution ever devised by 
God or man. 

11. The marriage condition, in its essence, is one 
of mutual advantage and mutual surrender, and is 
thrown completely out of balance by attempts on either 
side to enjoy the benefits, without yielding equal ones 
to the other. 

12. There may be, and doubtless are, numerous 
abuses of the married state ; but that does not argue 
against its importance, neither does it detract from its 
absolute value and necessity. 

13. Chief among essentials to a happy married 
life, should be placed a real and genuine affection ; not 
a fancy, not a preference, not a passion, but a love that 
makes it possible to be happy with its object no matter 
who departs, and unhappy without him, no matter who 
remains. 

14. The true union needs to be one of mind as well 
as of heart, and based on mutual esteem as well as 
mutual affection. In short, true union must rest on 
qualities of character, which rule in domestic as in pub- 
lic life. 

15. The blending of the male and female charac- 
teristics, produces the grandest character in each. 

16. There is nothing which a sensible man is so 
certain to find, if he looks for it, as a good wife. 

17. A man's moral character is, necessarily, power- 
fully influenced by his wife. A lower nature will drag 
him down, as a higher will lift him up. 

18. The basis of permanent happiness in marriage, 
is companionship. The husband and wife should be 
comrades and confidants with one another. 

19. Young women should require, in association 
and marriage, purity for purity, sobriety for sobriety, 
and honor for honor. 



370 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 4. The Family. 

Two heads in council, 

Two beside the hearth, 

Two in the tangled business of the world, 

Two plummets dropped for one, to sound 

The abyss of science and the mind. — Tennyson. 

i. The family, in its origin is divine; and God has 
instituted laws for its regulation and perpetuity, and 
these laws must be scrupulously observed and obeyed, 
or it ceases to be an ornament and a blessing — the great 
training school for Church and State — the safeguard of 
society and a hope for the future. 

2. The management of a family and a household, 
is as much a matter of business as the management of a 
shop or of a counting-house. It requires method, accu- 
racy, organization, industry, discipline, tact, knowledge, 
and capacity for adapting means to ends. All this is of 
the essence of business ; and hence business habits are as 
necessary to be cultivated by women who would suc- 
ceed in the affairs of home — in other words, who would 
make home happy — as by men in the affairs of trade, of 
commerce, or of manufacture. 

3. Adultery saps the foundation of civilization, 
and would topple the proud structure into the oblivion 
of ignorance and lust. 

4. The importance of sacredly regarding the family 
relation, can not well be overestimated. It is the foun- 
dation stone of all that is good and pure, both in civiliza- 
tion and religion. Take this away and the whole fabric 
must topple and fall. 

5. It is highly important and necessary, not only 
to continue the validity of the marriage rite, on which 
the true idea of the family is based, but great care 
should be exercised to make these homes all that they 
can and should be made — the most delightful and entic- 
ing places on earth, where everything that is good is 
encouraged, and everything evil pointed out and dis- 
countenanced ; for as children leave the paternal home, 
they are, to a great extent, moulded for life. 



37i 

6. They who would dissolve the marriage rite, 
with all its hallowed and binding influences, would 
overthrow everything that is worth living for, and turn 
society into a bedlam of confusion and moral degrada- 
tion ; for it is the chain that binds the entire network of 
human society together, in all its highest prospects, both 
for time and eternity. 

7. The unity and perpetuity of the family tie, in 
purity and peace, is the only safeguard to national per- 
petuity, peace and honor. 

8. Demoralize the family and you thereby destroy 
both domestic and national happiness, and undermine 
completely the temple of virtue and hope, and prepare 
the way of moral and civil desolation. 

9. Family life is God's own method of training 
the young. Domestic love and duty are the best security 
for all that is most dear to man on earth. 

10. Nothing can exceed in beauty and sublimity, 
the quietude, peace, harmony, affection and happiness 
of a well-ordered family, where virtue is nurtured and 
every good principle fostered and sustained. 

11. The true success or failure of a marriage, is 
not in the happiness of the husband and wife, but in the 
happy result in the family which arises from it. The 
happiness of the generation that is coming up, not of 
the generation that is passing away, affords the true test 
of marriage. 

12. God meant, when he made you, that you should 
live in families. It is the only way that the two sexes 
can come together, without impairing virtue and purity. 

13. The family circle ought to be the most charm- 
ing and delightful place on earth, the center of the purest 
affections and most desirable associations, as well as 
the most attractive and exalted beauties to be found on 
earth. 

14. It is the duty of every adult male human being 
to earn enough to feed, clothe and make comfortable 
and happy, himself, wife, and children. 

15. The family is the first institution, and lies at 
the basis of everything that is good in society. 

16. The family is Nature's great moral school ; and. 
real character is mostly formed by home influence. 



372 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 5. Classes and Masses. 

For just experience tells, in ev'ry soil, 

That those who think must govern those who toil; 

And all that Freedom's highest aim can reach 

Is but to lay proportion'd loads on each. — Goldsmith. 

1. Certain kinds of equality are possible, but social 
or money equality is impossible. 

2. Both extreme poverty and extreme wealth are, 
in a large majority of cases, dangerous and demoralizing. 

3. All men are created equal ; they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

4. Under constitutional governments, where all 
classes more or less participate in the exercise of political 
power, the national character will necessarily depend 
more on the moral qualities of the many than of 
the few. 

5. While statesmen, philosophers, and divines rep- 
resent the thinking power of society, the men who found 
industries and carve out new careers, as well as the com- 
mon body of working people, from whom the national 
strength and spirit are from time to time recruited, must 
necessarily furnish the vital force and constitute the real 
backbone of every nation. 

6. The loftiest mortal loves and seeks the same 
sort of things with the meanest, only from higher 
grounds and by higher paths. 

7. The need is not that the rich man should become 
a pauper, the titled throw away his influence, and 
strength become a weakling. Strength must be retained 
and added to, if possible ; but it must also be used to 
uplift and enrich those who are poor and down. 

8. Riches and luxury contain in themselves no evil, 
they are given by God, and it is possible to help those 
in need while living in luxury. 

9. The .dominion of one man over others, comes 
not from money, but from the circumstance that a work- 
ing man does not receive the full value of his labor. 



373 

10. The many sudden changes of demand and 
supply are at the bottom of the troubles of labor and 
capital alike. 

ii. It is the duty of the government to throw safe- 
guards around the savings of the poor people, and return 
to them all losses they may incur through dishonesty 
or incompetency of the monied classes. 

12. It is not the existence of inherited wealth, even 
on a very large scale, that is likely to shake seriously the 
respect for property ; it is vast wealth acquired by 
shameful means, employed for shameful purposes, and 
exercising an altogether undue influence in society and 
in the state. 

13. Every man should have just what he earns and 
nothing more. The humblest avocations require men to 
fill them, and every man is entitled to a fair share of the 
good things of life, if he is industrious, and should be 
paid accordingly. 

14. Labor multiplies and extends in all directions, 
in proportion as capital furnishes man with the means 
of labor. 

15. The cottage is sure to suffer from every error 
of the court, the cabinet, or the camp. 

16. The employer is justified in having work done 
as cheaply as he can, and it is the business of the work- 
ingman to get all he can for his work. 

17. The condition of labor is always worst where 
capital is small. 

18. The influence of talent will always be the 
greatest, in that government which is the most pure ; 
while the influence of riches will always be the greatest, 
in that government which is the most corrupt. 

19. It is every man's duty, whose lot has been 
favored in comparison with others, who enjoys advan- 
tages of wealth, or knowledge, or social influence, of 
which others are deprived, to devote at least a certain 
portion of his time and money to the promotion of the 
general well-being. 

20. There should be no discrimination for one class 
of work above another. 



374 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 6. Prosperity. 

They that stand high, have many blasts to shake them; 

And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces. — Shakespeare. 

1. In time of your prosperity, you need to lay to 
heart the lesson that riches are only sent to you in trust, 
and that you must one day give an account of your stew- 
ardship. 

2. Money cannot buy happiness, but it can pur- 
chase more than almost anything else in the way of those 
substitutes for happiness, which most people manage to 
exist by. 

3. The poor man of fixed purpose, of good habits, 
content to bide his time, who endeavors to please his 
employer and who is fairly economical, almost invariably 
finds himself, at the prime of life, in a prosperous condi- 
tion. 

4. Thrift is not a painful virtue. On the contrary, 
it enables you to avoid much contempt and many indig- 
nities. It requires you to deny yourself, but not to 
abstain from any proper enjoyment. It provides many 
honest pleasures, of which thriftlessness and extrava- 
gance deprive you. 

5. It is very important for a man to know how to 
master and control his abundance. 

6. Make money that you may possess it, but do not 
aim at making too much, for fear it should possess you. 

7. Thrift is merely common-sense in every day 
working action. It needs no fervent resolution, but only 
a little patient self-denial. 

8. Comparatively few people can be rich ; but most 
have it in their power to acquire, by industry and econ- 
omy, sufficient to meet their personal wants. 

9. Competence and comfort lie within the reach of 
most people, were they to take the adequate means to 
secure and enjoy them. 

10. Surround yourself with the bracing atmos- 
phere of prosperity, no matter how little money you 
may have. 



375 

ii. Prosperity is the touchstone of virtue : it is less 
difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain incorrupted 
by pleasure. 

12. Men honor the rich, because they have exter- 
nally the freedom, power and grace which they feel to be 
proper to man — proper to them. 

13. The prosperous man must be all the more 
active and alert in his duties as a citizen and a neighbor, 
because of this added power for which he is sponsor. 

14. Possessed of a little store of capital, a man 
walks with a lighter step, his heart beats more cheerily. 
When interruption of work or adversity happens, he can 
meet it ; he can recline on his capital, which will either 
break his fall or prevent it altogether. 

15. Prosperity tends to longevity, if you do not 
wear life away or burn it out in the feverish pursuit of 
wealth. 

16. You must make up your mind to it that things 
will not always go pleasantly. Xo career is ever without 
a break in its prosperity. 

17. The wealthiest and best men have been formed 
amid difficulties and trials ; and you should never suc- 
cumb to hardships or shirk from toil if you wish to win 
an honorable career. 

18. If a man has health, and is earnest and intense 
and persistent and industrious, and is able to see the 
world broadly, and the men and affairs of the world in 
their true perspective ; there is no difficulty whatever 
about his making a good living. 

19. The great satisfaction coming from wealth, is 
an assurance of power; besides this, it opens up a way 
to a higher delight, meeting your desire for education 
and art. 

20. Most every man pictures himself as being in 
comfortable circumstances at some future day, as the 
result of his own industry and skill. 

21. The road of human welfare lies along the old 
highway of steadfast well-doing; and they who are the 
most persistent, and work in the truest spirit, will usually 
be the most prosperous. 



376 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 7. Reputation. 

The purest treasure mortal times afford 

Is spotless reputation: that away 

Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay. — Shakespeare. 

1. You must make your reputation by first making 
yourself. 

2. If a man is going to amount to anything his 
success will depend very largely on his reputation — 
what other people think of him. 

3. A good name must be the fruit of your own 
exertions. You cannot possess it by patrimony; you 
cannot purchase it with money ; you will not light on it 
by chance ; it is independent of birth, station, talents, 
and wealth ; it must be the outcome of your own endeavor 
and the reward of good principles and honorable conduct. 

4. With due qualifications, a good name is the best 
means of either attaining or keeping any promotion. 

5. Mien and manner have much to do with your 
influence and reputation in any walk of life. 

6. It is right that in life good qualities should tell — 
that industry, virtue, and goodness should rank the 
highest — and that the really best men should be fore- 
most. 

7. The art of using moderate abilities to advantage 
wins praise, and often acquires more reputation than 
actual brilliancy. 

8. A man must have the reputation of being 
prompt, energetic, decisive, earnest, and true, if he would 
have the assistance of others ; and without this, success 
is impossible. 

9. A good name keeps its lustre in the dark. 

10. Nothing will give greater confidence in a man 
and bring assistance more quickly, than the reputation 
for promptness. 

11. Many a great man has snatched his reputation 
from odd bits of time which others, who wonder at their 
failure to get on, throw away. 



377 

12. The very reputation for being strong-willed, 
plucky, and indefatigable, is of priceless value. It cows 
enemies, and dispels opposition to your undertakings. 

13. A good reputation for honesty and manliness 
is above all price. 

14. Reputation is much easier to lose than to gain. 

15. The reputation of being always equal to any 
emergency, of having the power to conquer difficulties, 
is a very great help in advancing your position. 

16. A man's reputation draws eyes on him, that 
will narrowly inspect every part of him. 

17. To gain the good opinion of those who sur- 
round them, is of great interest to everyone, in all walks 
of life. 

18. There are two modes of establishing reputa- 
tion : to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by 
rogues. It is best to secure the former, because it will 
be invariably accompanied by the latter. 

19. A good reputation, based on a good character, 
is a fortune to any man. 

20. A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches. 

21. It is the use you make of the powers intrusted 
to you, which constitutes your only just claim to respect. 

22. A name for being thoroughly reliable, opens 
many a door that has much within. 

23. If any one speaks ill of you, let your life be so 
that none will believe him. 

24. Result makes reputation. 

25. When you speak in your own praise, you add 
nothing to your reputation. 

26. To be desirous of a good name, and careful to do 
everything that you may, innocently, to obtain it, is 
so far from being a fault, even in private persons, that 
it is their great and indispensable duty. 

27. Men of good character are generally men of 
good reputation ; but this is not always the case, as the 
motives and actions of the best of men are sometimes 
misunderstood and misrepresented. 

28. He is rich who values a good name above gold, 



378 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 8. Leadership. 

If you were born to honor, show it now; 
If put upon you, make the judgment good 
That thought you worthy of it. — Shakespeare. 

1. The world wants leaders, thinkers, doers, men 
of power and action, men who can step out from the 
crowd and lead instead of follow. 

2. A leader is a man who does not fear to be him- 
self, who believes in himself, who lives his own creed ; 
a man who cannot be wheedled hither and thither by 
every new argument presented, but who knows his goal 
and goes straight to it. 

3. The energetic leader of noble spirit not only wins 
a way for himself, but carries others with him. His 
every act has a personal significance, indicating vigor, 
independence, and self-reliance, and unconsciously com- 
mands respect, admiration and homage. 

4. When popularity is won by fawning on the 
people, by withholding the truth from them, by writing 
and speaking to the lowest tastes, and still worse, by 
appeals to class-hatred, such a popularity is simply con- 
temptible in the sight of all honest men. 

5. Popularity, in the lowest and most common 
sense, is not worth the having. Do your duty to the 
best of your power, win the approbation of your own 
conscience, and popularity, in its best and highest sense, 
is sure to follow. 

6. The great leader attracts to himself men of kin- 
dred character, drawing them towards him as the load- 
stone does iron. 

7. You must live outside of yourself, and the more 
you can do this, the more you will draw others to you. 

8. The best school in which to train a man for 
public service, is a practical and close touch and ming- 
ling with the masses of the people, maintained until he 
knows them and knows the vicissitudes of their lives — 
their griefs and disappointments, as well as their hopes 
and aspirations. 



379 

g. The qualities which enable an individual to ac- 
quire wealth are often of a character to promote his suc- 
cess in politics, apart from his wealth. 

10. You cannot seclude yourself in the cloister or 
study and expect to move men. 

ii. There is no accident about a person being a 
favorite, and the secret of it is tact, good fellowship, and 
amiable unselfishness. 

12. Popularity, a desirable adjunct in society or 
business, depends in no small degree on the measure in 
which you have mastered the fine art of pleasing. 

13. Power belongs only to the workers ; the idlers 
are always followers. 

14. If by integrity, industry, and well-earned suc- 
cess, you deserve well of your fellow-citizens, they may, 
in years to come, ask you to accept honors. 

15. The secret of personal popularity, the power of 
exciting irrational and vehement devotion to its object, 
has never been detected. If it is not possessed it cannot 
be acquired. It is an art for which there is no text-book 
nor any teacher. 

16. Men of genuine excellence, in every station of 
life — men of industry, of integrity, of high principle, of 
sterling honesty of purpose — command the spontaneous 
homage of mankind. It is natural to believe in such 
men, to have confidence in them. All that is good in the 
world is upheld by them, and without their presence it 
would not be worth living in. 

17. It is the strong and courageous men who lead, 
and guide, and rule the world. 

18. In public life, a man's success depends more 
on his ideas, and on his honesty, than on his ability either 
to speak or write. If his ideas agree with those of the 
people, he will be popular. If, in addition to having popu- 
lar ideas, he is able to present them well, his influence is 
increased. 

19. It is not men of genius who move the world 
and take the lead in it, so much as men of steadfastness, 
purpose and indefatigable industry. 

20. The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, 
and compels them, as it were, to follow him. 



3&> 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 9. Greatness. 

A great life is every person's privilege. 
Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd, 
Shall never find it more. — Shakespeare. 

i. True greatness is in the character, never in the 
circumstance. 

2. The range of most men in life is so limited, that 
very few have the opportunity of being great. But each 
man can act his part honestly, honorably, and to the 
best of his ability. He can use his gifts and not abuse 
them. He can strive to make the best of life. He can 
be true, and faithful, even in small things. He can do his 
duty in that sphere in which God has placed him. 

3. There is little greatness that is worth the name, 
that is not founded on and accompanied by sound, moral 
principles. 

4. True greatness has little, if anything, to do with 
rank or power. 

5. There is a greatness that rests for its basis on 
circumstance ; it is the greatness of accident. There is a 
greatness that rests for its basis on raw might; it is the 
greatness of the brute. There is a greatness that rests 
for its basis on age ; it is that of appearance rather than 
reality. Then there is a greatness that is innate. It 
exists to secure rights and protect the weak ; its domin- 
ion is the sovereignty of good-will, and its titles and 
degrees are the inherent prerequisites of character. It 
is the only true greatness. It is this greatness that 
makes the humanity and beauty of the world. 

6. Men in great places are thrice servants — servants 
of the state, servants of fame, and servants of business ; 
so they have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor 
in their actions, nor in their time. 

7. The truly large man carries his business with 
ease and dignity, and never allows himself to become the 
slave of his environment. He thinks there is something 
in the world besides merchandise and dollars, and shows 
forth his belief to all with whom he comes in contact. 



38i 

8. The great man is he who abides easily on 
heights to which others rise occasionally and with diffi- 
culty. 

9. Men are not born great ; greatness is not thrust 
on any one. 

10. All that is great in man comes through work, 
and civilization is its product. 

11. Great men are always exceptional men; and 
greatness itself is but comparative. 

12. Greatness cannot be analyzed. Success does 
not always come to those of whom it might be expected. 

13. Great men are not always good, but good men 
are always great. 

14. Great men are but common men more fully 
developed and ripened. 

15. It is as easy to be great as it is to be small. 

16. The really great men are those who produce 
public opinion and direct the public mind in the direc- 
tion of the best end. 

17. The difference between an ordinary man and a 
great man, may be denned by the difference in the activ- 
ity of the will power. 

18. Moral excellence is an indispensable element in 
all forms of human greatness. 

19. Greatness is founded on the alliance of virtue 
and of fortune. 

20. Great occasions are the necessities only for 
which great men are the supplies. 

21. From the highest to the lowest, the richest to 
the poorest, to no rank or condition in life has nature 
denied her highest boon — the great heart. 

22. Honesty is not only the first step toward great- 
ness — it is greatness itself. 

23. A lowly beginning and an humble origin are no 
barrier to a great career. 

24. No man has come to greatness who has not felt, 
in some degree, that his life belongs to his race, and that 
what God gives him, He gives him for mankind. 

25. Without goodness no man can truly be great. 



382 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 10. Fame. 

Enough of merit has each honored name 

To shine untarnished on the rolls of fame, 

And add new lustre to the historic page. — David Humphreys. 

1. The only genuine and commanding fame is that 
which character creates. 

2. Character will take care of fame. Now and then 
the world's plaudits may miss the mark somewhat, now 
a little scant now a little full in their meed of praise, but 
they usually average up to the level of truth, and their 
grossest injustices can never circumscribe its destiny. 

3. With character achieved, rank and fame will 
come of themselves ; and when they come can be taken 
care of. 

4. Fame is only for those who contend. 

5. Fame seeks to crown him who is firm in his con- 
victions, who invites reason against any opinion he has 
expressed, and admits that the field of knowledge is 
wider than his own store of it. 

6. The rising into fame is laborious, and by pains 
men come to greater pains. 

7. A life may be showy and brilliant. It may be 
prodigious in splendor and display, but if behind all its 
blazonry there is a failure to meet common obligations, 
and the neglect of plain duties, fame is too scant a gar- 
ment to hide the wretched deformity of such a life. 

8. Men who acquire fame, have never been thrust 
into popularity by puffs begged or paid for, or given in 
a friendly spirit. They have outstretched their own 
hands and touched the public heart. 

9. Fame is the united expression of approval by the 
good ; the genuine testimony of men who have the power 
of forming a proper judgment of virtuous conduct. 

10. The birthplace of fame is in the minds of the 
discerning and wise. In this sense it is a heavenly voice. 
Their judgment of some man or woman is taken by the 
multitude and becomes a common saying. 

11. If you cannot attain fame or distinction accord- 



383 

ing to the world's estimate, you can at least build up a 
beautiful character, and this constitutes the greatest suc- 
cess to which the most learned and most highly cultured 
can attain. 

12. No true and permanent fame can be founded, 
except in labors which promote the happiness of man- 
kind. 

13. Fame never comes because it is craved. 

14. The test of enduring fame is not money, but 
brains and character. Poverty of purse, is not incompat- 
ible with riches in honor and intellect. 

15. Men may wake at times surprised to find them- 
selves famous, but it was the work they did before going 
to sleep, and not the slumber, that gave them eminence. 

16. Fame, which is the opinion the world expresses 
of any man's excellent endowments, is the idol to which 
the finest spirits have, in all ages, burnt their incense. 

17. It is well to have knowledge, and be famous for 
learning and general information. 

18. Maintain your post; that is all the fame you 
need. 

19. To be remembered is not necessarily to be 
famous. There is infamy as well as fame. 

20. When the big heart of the world speaks out, it 
has respect to the man that is sternly honest, and will 
not yield his principles. 

21. Whatever aptitude for particular pursuits 
nature may donate to her favorites, to her particular 
children, she conducts none but the laborious and the 
studious to distinction. 

22. The feeling that the nation is waiting, ready 
with its praise or blame, accordingly as the duty is well 
performed or ill, is a great stimulus. 

2^. The love of the approbation of your fellow-men, 
is implanted in you by nature, and is entirely commend- 
able, if properly regulated. 

24. Nothing will try your moral fibre so much as 
the favor of fortune and the flattery of the world. 

25. Meritorious works are the result of time and 
labor, and cannot be accomplished by intuition or by a 
wish. 



3^4 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 11. Immortality. 

Oh, may I join the choir invisible 

Of those immortal dead who live again 

In minds made better by their presence. — Geo. Eliot. 

1. God, through man, is working out some mighty- 
plan. 

2. Character, embodied in thought and deed, is of 
the nature of immortality. 

3. Nothing perishes and passes away but lives for- 
ever, though changed in form ; men's thoughts are as 
imperishable as their bodies ; time may yet prove an 
everlasting existence of the soul as unquestionable as 
that of the body that harbored it, and the thoughts it 
threw off. 

4. There is an essence of immortality in the life 
of man, even while in this world. 

5. The prophecy of immortality is written in your 
yearnings. 

6. There is something within man which is not all 
clay, something greater than his calling, which abso- 
lutely refuses to grovel in the midst of dollars and mer- 
chandise. 

7. The spirits of men do not die ; they still live and 
walk abroad. 

8. The man dies and disappears ; but his thoughts 
and acts survive, and leave an indelible stamp on his race ; 
and thus the spirit of his life is prolonged and perpet- 
uated, moulding the thought and will, and thereby con- 
tributing to form the character of the future. 

9. The solitary thought of a great thinker, will 
dwell in the minds of men for centuries, until at length 
it works itself into their daily life and practice. It lives 
on through the ages, speaking as a voice from the dead, 
and influencing minds living thousands of years apart. 

10. Only what you have wrought into your charac- 
ter during life, can you take away with you. 

11. To live in the hearts you leave behind, is not 
to die. 



385 

12. Write your name in kindness, love and mercy, 
■on the hearts of those who come in contact with you, 
and you will never be forgotten. 

13. Learned men not only instruct and educate 
those who are desirous to learn, during their life, and 
while they are present on earth, but they continue to do 
the same after death, by the monuments of their learn- 
ing which they leave behind them. 

14. While the frame moulders and disappears, the 
deed leaves an indelible stamp and moulds thought and 
will of future generations. 

15. Do good, and leave behind you a monument of 
virtue, which the storms of time can never destroy. 

16. Everything that has immortality stamped on 
it, has been done in the most painstaking and careful 
manner. 

17. Whoever has left behind him the record of a 
noble life, has bequeathed to posterity an enduring source 
of good ; for it serves as a model for others to form them- 
selves by in all time to come ; still breathing fresh life 
into men, helping them to reproduce his life anew, and to 
illustrate his character in other forms. 

18. No man's acts die utterly; and though his body 
may resolve into dust and air, his good or his bad deeds 
will still be bringing forth fruit after their kind, and influ- 
encing future generations for all time to come. It is in 
this momentous and solemn fact that the great peril and 
responsibility of human existence lies. 

19. It is a high, solemn, almost awful thought, for 
every individual man, that his earthly influence, which 
has a commencement, will never, through all the ages, 
htave an end. What is done is done, has already blended 
itself with the boundless, ever living, ever working uni- 
verse, and will work there for good or for evil, openly 
or secretly, throughout time. 

20. Man's best products are his happy and sancti- 
fying thoughts, which, when once formed and put into 
practice, extend their fertilizing influence for thousands 
of years, and from generation to generation. 



386 



CHARACTER: A MORAL TEXT-BOOK. 

Book XVIII. Part 12. Religion. 

Religion does not censure or exclude 

Unnumber'd pleasures, harmlessly pursued. 

To study culture, and with artful toil 

To meliorate and tame the stubborn soil; 

To give dissimilar yet fruitful lands 

The grain, or herd, or plant that each demands. — Cowper. 

1. Religion is a personal matter between man and 
his Maker, and all systems that have tried to intervene, 
have found themselves set aside by the onward progress 
of events. 

2. Religion, in its essential nature, is an endeavor 
after a practical expression of man's conscious relation to 
the infinite. 

3. Religion was intended to bring peace on earth 
and good-will towards men, and whatever tends to 
hatred and persecution, however correct in the letter, 
must be utterly wrong in the spirit. 

4. Religion is a necessity, growing out of the rela- 
tion man sustains to his God. He is therefore by nature 
religious. 

5. Religion should be a strength, guide, and com- 
fort, not a source of intellectual anxiety or angry argu- 
ment. 

6. In the realm of consciousness, a manly religion 
is not only a creed but an experience. In the realm of 
conduct, it is not only a restraint but an inspiration. In 
the realm of destiny, it is not only an insurance for the 
next, but a program for the present world. 

7. If your religion means anything, it means com- 
posure, heroism, serenity, loyalty at all times and in all 
places. It must be able to stand the strain put on it, 
if it is to recommend itself to the world. 

8. Anything that tends to oppress, weaken, debase, 
or mortify, is not religion. Religion lightens, strength- 
ens, encourages, uplifts, and makes happy and cheerful. 

9. Philosophy, science, experience, reason, all the 
best methods of inquiry at your command, must be 



387 

called on to guide your feelings and your religious en- 
thusiasm. 

10. In every age and every clime, men and women 
have been willing to incur poverty, hardship, toil, ridicule, 
persecution, or even death, if thereby they might shed 
light o.r comfort on the path which all must walk from 
the cradle to the grave. 

ii. Knowlege and religion have to march hand in 
hand, or religion does not march at all. 

12. Behind the creation is a mind and a will ; before 
the creation lies a goal and a hope. It was not by chance 
that either your home or yourself came into being, nor 
are you the victim of blind fate. The seen at every turn 
proves the unseen, and above all the world is God. 

13. All religions which do not aspire to be based 
on truth, are superstitions. There is but one true relig- 
ion, which is the religion of truth. 

14. Improvement in morality and religion, like 
improvement in government, is part and parcel of civil- 
ization, and results from the same cause. 

15. Superstition is a weakening of the mind, against 
which you should be always on your guard. It is an 
implied atheism, as it assumes either that God does not 
rule the world, or that He admits elements of absurdity 
into His rule of it. 

16. A man's religion is not worth much, unless it 
can illuminate his face, sweeten his words, elevate every 
action, and make all his life divine. 

17. If you cherish the conviction that Christ was 
but a good man and his death but a martyr's sacrifice — 
if you say that after the long, hard pull over the hill of 
life there is no final resting place — if you believe that 
love, truth and honor are but names ; if, in short, you 
have any disagreeable or unholy theory which cavils at 
the good of life and the crowning of death, in the name 
of humanitv keep it to yourself. 

18. The codes of morality, which are adopted into 
various religions, and afterward taught as part of relig- 
ious systems, are derived from secular sources. 



INDEX. 

The first figure refers to the Bookj the second figure to the Part; 
the third figure to the Verse. 



Ability— 15: 8, 14. 






2, 22; 7: 


2, 23; 7: 


2, 24; 7: 


Abstemiousness — 4: 6 


, 20. 




2, 25; 7: 


2, 26; 7: 


2, 27; 7: 


Abundance — 10: 3, 18 






2, 28. 






Abuse— 17: 10, 3. 






Affectation- 


-9: 9, 20; 


9: 11, 21 


Accident— 16: 6, 22. 






Affection — E 


: 11, 15. 




Accuracy — 15: 1, 22; 


15: 


1, 23 


Affliction — 


L7: 1, 3; 


17: 1, 4; 


16: 9, 3. 






17: 1, 9. 






Achievement — 4: 9, 6; 


5: 


11, 17 


Aged, The— 


-1: 2, 8. 




15: 2, 8; 16: 6, 18; 


16: 


11, 2. 


Agreeableness — 2: 6, 


22; 2: 6 


Action— 8: 4, 1; 8: 4, 


2; 8 


: 4, 3 


23; 6: 5, 


19; 6: 5, 


21. 


8: 4, 5; 8: 4, 6; 8: 


4, 7 


8: 4 


Aim— 8: 12 


21; 13: 


2, 24; 13: 


8; 8: 4, 10; 8: 4, 13 


; 8: 


4, 15 


5, 17; 13 


: 5, 19; 


13: 5, 20; 


8: 4, 16; 8, 4, 17; 


8: 


4, 18 


13: 5, 21; 


13: 5, 24 


14: 3, 16; 


8: 4, 22; 8: 4, 24; 


8: 


8, 13 


14: 3, 18. 






8: 9, 4; 12: 2, 21; 


14: 


11, 2 


Alms— 7: 1 


, 5. 




14: 11, 3; 14: 12, 8; 


17 


7, 21 


Ambition — 


L3: 1, 1; 


13: 1, 2, 


Acts— 4: 9, 8; 4: 10, 


2; 


4: 10 


13: 1, 3; 


13: 1, 5; 


13: 1, 6 


3; 4: 10, 24. 






13: 1, 7; 


13: 1, 8; 


13: 1, 9; 


Adaptation — 14: 3, 4; 


14 


5, 3 


13: 1, 10; 


13: 1, 11; 


13: 1, 12 


14: 5, 10. 






13: 1, 13; 


13: 1, 14; 


13: 1, 16 


Admiration — 7: 4, 3; 


13: 


3, 1 


13: 1, 17; 


13: 1, 18; 


13: 1, 19 


13: 3, 2; 13: 3, 4; 


13 


. 3, 5 


13: 1, 20; 


13: 1, 21; 


13: 1, 22 


13: 3, 6; 13: 3, 7; 


13 


3, 8 


13: 1, 24; 


13: 1, 25; 


13: 1, 26 


13: 3, 9; 13: 3, 10; 


13: 


3, 11 


13: 5, 3; 


17: 5, 12. 




13: 3, 12; 13: 3, 13; 


13: 


3, 14 


Amiability- 


-6: 11, 16 


7: 4, 6. 


13: 3, 15; 13: 3, 16; 


13 


3, 17 


Amusement 


—10: 10, 


1; 10: 10 


13: 3, 18; 13: 3, 19; 


13: 


3, 20 


4; 10: 10 


, 5; 10: : 


L0, 16; 17 


13: 3, 21; 13: 3, 22; 


13: 


3, 23 


10, 16. 







13: 3, 24. 

Adultery— 18: 4, 3. 

Advancement — 12 : 4, 

Adversity — 17: 1, 2; 
17: 1, 6; 17: 1, 7; 
17: 1, 12; 17: 1, 15; 
17: 1, 19; 17: 1, 21; 

Advice— 7: 2, 1; 7: 2 
3; 7: 2, 4; 7: 2, 5 
7: 2, 7; 7: 2, 8; 7 
2, 10; 7: 2, 11; 7: 
2, 13; 7: 2, 14; 7: 
2, 17; 7: 2, 18; 7: 



17: 1, 


5; 


17: 1, 


10; 


17: 1, 


IS; 


17: 1, 


24 


, 2; 7 


: 2 


7: 2 


6; 


2, 9; 


7: 


2, 12; 


7: 


2, 15; 


7: 


2, 19; 


7: 



Ancestors — 10: 6, 1. 

Anger— 4: 8, 6; 4: 8, 7; 4: 8, 8 
4: 8, 9; 4: 8, 10; 4: 8, 11; 4 
8, 12; 4: 8, 13; 4: 8, 21; 4 
8, 31; 5: 10, 25. 

Animals— 1: 2, 9; 7: 5, 10; 7 
5, 17. 

Antagonist— 16: 7, 11. 

Anxiety— 9: 4, 20. 

Apparel — 6: 9, 2. 

Appearance — 6: 9, 4; 13: 6, 8 
17: 7, 1; 17: 7, 2; 17: 7, 3 
17: 7, 4; 17: 7, 5; 17: 7, 9 



390 



17: 7, 10; 17: 7, 11; 17: 7, 12 
17: 7, 15; 17: 7, 16; 17: 7, 17 
17: 7, 18; 17: 7, 20; 17: 7, 22 
17: 7, 23; 17: 7, 24; 17: 7, 25 
17: 7, 26. 

Appetite— 4: 6, 9; 8: 11, 12; 8 
11, 14; 17: 10, 1; 17: 17 
10, 2. 

Application — 14: 7, 2; 14: 7, 3 
14: 7, 4; 14: 7, 6; 14: 7, 7 
14: 7, 8; 14: 7, 9; 14: 7, 11 
14: 7, 12; 14: 7, 14; 14: 7, 16 
14: 7, 17; 14: 7, 18; 14: 7, 19 

Appreciation — 13: 2, 1. 

Appropriateness — 14: 5, 5; 14 
5, 6; 14: 5, 7; 14: 5, 8; 14 
5, 9; 14: 5, 11; 14: 5, 12; 14 
5, 13; 14: 5, 14; 14: 5, 16 
14: 5, 17; 14: 5, 19; 14: 5, 20 
14: 5, 21; 14: 5, 18. 

Approval — 13: 1, 4. 

Aptitude— 16: 8, 10. 

Aristocracy— 10: 6, 9; 10: 6, 24. 

Arrogance — 6: 12, 10. 

Art— 10: 1, 7. 

Artifice— 9: 11, 5. 

Aspiration — 3: 2, 21; 8: 3, 6 
13: 2, 2; 13: 2, 3; 13: 2, 4 
13: 2, 6; 13: 2, 7; 13: 2, 8 
13: 2, 9; 13: 2, 10; 13: 2, 11 
13: 2, 12; 13: 2, 13; 13: 2, 14 
13: 2, 15; 13: 2, 16; 13: 2, 17 
13: 2, 18; 13: 2, 19; 13: 2, 20 
13: 2, 21; 13: 2, 22; 13: 2, 23 
13: 2, 28; 13: 5, 7; 13: 5, 12 
13: 5, 13; 13: 5, 14; 13: 5: 15 
13: 5, 16; 13: 5, 23; 13: 5, 25 
13: 7, 1; 13: 2, 1; 13: 5, 5. 

Assistance— 7 : 9, 1; 7: 9, 25. 

Association— 4 : 7, 8; 4: 11, 4 
4: 11, 6; 4: 11, 7; 4: 11, 8 
4: 11, 16; 4: 11, 21; 7: 9, 3 
11: 6, 16; 14: 1, 5; 17: 7, 13 
17: 9, 13. 

Assumption — 6: 8, 16. 

Attention— 12: 4, 22; 12: 4, 26 
15: 5, 20. 

Backwardness — 9: 1, 18. 

Badness— 8: 9, 12. 



10: 



Beauty— 6: 6, 22; 10: 9, 1; 

9, 2; 10: 9, 3; 10: 9, 4; 

9, 5; 10: 9, 6; 10: 9, 7; 

9, 8; 10: 9, 9; 10: 9, 10; 

9, 11; 10: 9, 13; 10: 9 ; 

10: 9, 15; 10: 9, 16; 10: 8 

10: 9, 18; 10: 9, 19; 10: S 

10: 9, 24; 10: 9, 25; 

17: 9, 3; 10: 9, 20. 
Beginning - — 14 : 

14: 2, 9. 
Benefactors — 9 : 
Benevolence — 6 : 

25. 
Best— 1: 3, 2. 
Best, Do Your— 3: 2, 1; £ 
2, 3; 3: 2, 4; 3: 2, 5 



2, 7; 14: 2, 8; 



3, 23. 
1, 16: 



12, 



3: 2, 



8, 13; 

10: 8, 

10: g 



3: 2, 7; 3: 2, 
2, 10; 3: 2, 11; 3: 2, 
2, 13; 3: 2, 14; 3: 2, 
2, 17; 3: 2, 22; 3: 2, 
2, 28; 3: 2, 29. 

Biography— 11: 6, 27; 11: 10 
11: 10, 8; 11: 10, 13; 11: 
14; 12: 2, 8; 12: 6, 4. 

Blessing— 1: 2, 2; 10: 5, 1; 
8, 1; 10: 8, 2; 10: 8, 3; 10 
4; 10: 8, 5; 10: 8, 6; 10 
7; 10: 8, 8; 10: 8, 9; 10 
11; 10: 8, 12: 10: 
8, 14; 10: 8, 15; 
10: 8, 17; 10: 8, 18 

Bluster— 7: 12, 15. 

Boasting — 9: 9, 22. 

Body— 10: 2, 19. 

Bonds— 7: 9, 8; 7: 9, 14; 
16. 

Books— 12: 6, 1; 12: 6, 2; 
6, 3; 12: 6, 5; 12: 6, 8; 
6, 11; 12: 6, 12; 12: 6, 
12: 6, 19; 12: 6, 20; 12: 7, 
12: 7, 28; 12: 7, 29. 

Boor— 4: 10, 19. 

Borrowing — 17: 12, 16. 

Boy— 4: 12, 20; 9: 1, 9. 

Brain— 2: 2, 8; 5: 12, 14; 
3, 7. 

Bravery — 4: 5, 20; 
5, 24; 8: 6, 25. 



9; 
12: 

15 

27: 

6; 

10, 

10: 



10: 
16; 

19. 



7: 9, 

12: 
12: 

18; 
27; 



4: 5, 21: 



39i 



Breeding-— 6 : 3, 24; 6: 5, 5; 6: 

5, 22; 6: 6, 17; 6: 6, 23; 6: 

6, 24; 7: 8, 6. 
Burdens — 5: 11, 22. 
Business — 14: 5, 4; 14: 8, 10 

14: 8, 11; 16: 5, 1; 16: 5, 3 
16: 5, 4; 16: 5, 5; 16: 5, 7 
16: 5, 8; 16: 5, 9; 16: 5, 10 
16: 5, 11; 16: 5, 12; 16: 5, 13 
16: 5, 14; 16: 5, 15; 16: 5, 17 
16: 5, 18; 16: 7, 1; 17: 10, 7 
16: 5, 2. 

Calamity — 17: 10, 4. 

Callousness — 7: 5, 17. 

Calumny— 9: 12, 25. 

Candor— 5: 10, 5; 5: 10, 27; 6: 
8, 18; 7: 7, 6; 7: 7, 12. 

Capacity— 16: 8, 25; 16: 9, 10; 
16: 9, 18. 

Caprice — 4: 6, 5. 

Career— 5: 3, 14; 16: 4, 1; 16: 
4, 3. 

Care— 8: 10, 17. 

Ceremonies — 1: 2, 5. 

Censure — 7: 2, 16. 

Chance— 12: 7, 25: 13: 7, 19. 

Change— 14: 4, 18. 

Character— 1 : 1, 11; 1: 2, 25 
2: 1, 5; 2: 1, 11; 2: 1, 14; 2 
1, 15; 2: 2, 3; 2: 2, 5; 2 
3, 5; 2: 3, 14; 3: 1, 1; 3: t 
15; 4: 1, 1; 4: 1, 2; 4: 1, 3 



4: 1, 4; 

1, 7; 4: 



10; 
13; 
16; 
19; 
22; 
25; 
4: 



4: 1, 
1, 8; 

1, 11; 

1, 14; 

1, 17; 

1, 20; 

1, 23; 

2, 1; 4 



5; 4: 1, 6; 
4: 1, 9; 4 
4: 1, 12; 
4: 1, 15; 
4: 1, 18; 
4: 1, 21; 
4: 1, 24; 
: 2, 2; 4 



5; 4: 7, 5; 4: 7, 16: 4 
8, 16; 4: 9, 1; 4: 9, 3; 4: 10 
1; 4: 10, 6; 4: 12, 5; 5: 1, 1 
5: 1, 2; 5: 1, 6; 5: 3, 13; 5 
4, 8; 5: 6, 17; 5: 8, 1; 5: 9 
1; 5: 10, 24; 6: 2, 9; 6: 6, 3 
7: 4, 21; 7: 10, 11; 7: 12, 3 
7: 12, 19; 8: 4, 9; 8: 5, 7 
8: 8, 4; 8: 8, 5; 8: 8, 8; 8 
11, 21; 8: 12, 9; 9: 7, 29; 10 



6, 6; 10: 9, 21; 11: 2, 4; 11: 

3, 19; 11: 10, 7; 12: 1, 13; 14: 
12, 4; 17: 1, 8; 17: 7, 27. 

Charity— 3: 3, 18; 6: 2, 22; 7: 
1, 1; 7: 1, 2; 7: 1, 3; 7: 1, 4; 
7: 1, 5; 7: 1, 6; 7: 1, 7; 7: 

1, 8; 7: 1, 9; 7: 1, 10; 7: 1, 
11; 7: 1, 12; 7: 1, 13; 7: 1, 
14; 7: 1, 15; 7: 1, 16; 7: 1, 
17; 7: 1, 18; 7: 1, 19; 7: 1, 
20; 7: 1, 21; 7: 1, 22; 7: 1, 
23; 7: 1, 24; 7: 1, 25; 7: 1, 
26; 7: 1, 27; 7: 5, 27; 7: 8, 
25. 

Chastity— 6: 4, 1; 17: 11, 9. 

Cheerfulness— 4: 2, 23; 6: 11, 
1; 6: 11, 2; 6: 11, 3; 6: 11, 
4; 6: 11, 5; 6: 11, 6; 6: 11, 
7; 6: 11, 8; 6: 11, 9; 6: 11, 
10; 6: 11, 11; 6: 11, 12; 6: 
11, 13; 6: 11, 14; 6: 11, 15; 
6: 11, 17; 6: 11, 18; 6: 11, 20; 
6: 11, 21. 

Child— 2: 1, 1; 2: 1, 3; 2: 1, 
4; 2: 1, 6; 2: 1, 8; 2: 1, 11; 
2: 1, 13; 2: 1, 14; 2: 1, 19; 
2: 1, 20; 2: 1, 21; 2: 2, 1; 2: 

2, 4; 2: 2, 6; 2: 2, 9; 2: 6, 5; 
Childhood— 2: 1, 7; 2: 1, 9; 11: 

4, 13. 

Chlidren— 2: 1, 2; 2: 1, 16; 2: 
2, 5; 2: 2, 12; 2: 2, 15; 4: 3, 
17; 7: 7, 10. 

Chivalry — 5: 8, 24. 

Choice— 4: 3, 1; 8: 8, 2; 8: 8, 
6; 8: 8, 9. 

Circumstances — 4: 1, 12; 5: 4, 
1 9; 8: 8, 14; 16: 6, 17; 16: 6, 
19; 16: 6, 20; 16: 6, 21. 

Civility— 2: 6, 3; 6: 5, 16; 6: 

5, 17; 7: 9, 15. 
Civilization— 14 : 5, 1. 
Classes— 18: 5, 4; 18: 5, 5; 18 

5, 6; 18: 5, 7; 18: 5, 9; 18 
5, 10; 18: 5, 11; 18: 5, 13 
18: 5, 14; 18: 5, 15; 18: 5 
16; 18: 5, 17; 18: 5, 18; 18 
5, 19; 18: 5, 20. 
Cleanliness — 6: 5, 3; 8: 1, 6 



392 



4: 

16: 
16: 



Clothes— 6: 9, 1; 6: 9, 2. 

Coarseness — 4: 7, 26. 

Common Sense — 11: 3, 1; 
3, 2; 11: 3, 3; 11: 3, 4; 
3, 5; 11: 3, 6; 11: 3, 8; 
3, 9; 11: 3, 10; 11: 3, 11; 
3, 12; 11: 3, 13; 11: 3, 
11: 3, 15; 11: 3, 16; 11 
17; 11: 3, 18; 11: 3, 24; 
3, 25. 

Companionship — 2: 1, 6; 4, 
1; 4: 11, 3; 4: 11, 5; 4: 
9; 4: 11, 12; 4: 11, 13; 
11, 15. 

Company — 4: 2, 11; 4 
4: 11, 11; 4: 11, 18; 
19; 4: 11, 20. 

Competition — 15: 2, 9; 
1; 16: 7, 3; 16: 7, 4 
8; 16: 7, 9; 16: 7, 10; 
7, 12; 16: 7, 14; 16: 7, 
16: 7, 20; 16: 7, 21; 16: 
22; 16: 7, 23; 16: 7, 24; 
7, 25; 16: 7, 26. 

Complaint — 9: 7, 26; 9: 7, 

Complexity — 6: 10, 8. 

Composure — 5: 11, 19. 

Comprehensiveness — 6: 10, 

Comradeship — 7: 9, 11. 

Conduct— 4: 2, 4; 5: 9, 22; 
3, 8; 8: 11, 1; 17: 7, 6. 

Confidence'— 5 : 7, 16; 9: 5, 
13: 9, 1; 13: 9, 2; 13: 9, 
13: 9, 4; 13: 9, 5; 13: 
6; 13: 9, 7; 13: 9, 8; 13 
9; 13: 9, 10; 13: 9, 11; 
9, 13; 13: 9, 14; 13: 9, 
13: 9, 18; 13: 9, 19; 13: 
20; 13: 9, 21; 13: 9, 22. 

Concentration — 15: 1, 7; 
6, 1; 15: 6, 2; 15: 6, 3; 
6, 4; 15: 6, 5; 15: 6, 6; 
6, 7; 15: 6, 8; 15: 6, 9; 
6, 10; 15: 6, 11; 15: 6, 
15: 6, 13; 15: 6, 14; 15 
15; 15: 6, 16; 15: 6, 18; 
6, 19. 

Conclusion — 15: 3, 23. 



11 
11 
11 
11 
14 

11 

11, 
11, 

4: 

2; 
11, 

7, 
: 7, 
16: 
19; 



Conscience — 2: 4, 
8: 5, 2; 8: 5, \ 
5. 6: 8: 5, 8; ! 



16 



27. 



23. 



2; 

3; 

9, 

9, 
13: 
17; 



11; 8 

14; 8 

17; 8 

22; 14 



5, 12; 

5, 15; 

5, 19; 

: 10, 7. 



21; 8: 


5, 


; 8: 5, 


5; 


: 5, 10; 


8 


: 5, 13; 


8: 


: 5, 16; 


8: 


: 5, 20; 


8: 



Consciousness — 13: 9, 12 
Consideration — 2: 1, 19; 

7; 3, 3, 32. 
Consistency — 5 
Contentment— 8 : 3, 1; 8: 3, 2; 

8: 3, 3; 8: 3, 

3, 8; 8: 3, 9; 

11; 8: 3, 12; 

15; 8: 3, 18; 

20; 8: 3, 21. 
Conversation — 6 
Conviction — 5 

17. 
Coolness— 15: 3, 13. 
Co-operation — 7: 9, 20; 

21; 7: 9, 22; 7: 9, 23; 

24. 
Correctness — 12: 7, 26. 
Corruption — 17: 10, 9. 
Counsel— 7: 2, 20; 7: 2 
Courage— 4: 2, 23; 4: 5, 



10, 6. 

3, 1; 
4; 8: 3, 
8: 3, 10; 
8: 3, 14; 
8: 3, 19; 

: 6, 16. 
10. 13: 



10, 



7: 9, 
7: 9, 



5, 2; 4: 

6; 4: 5, 

5, 10; 

5, 14; 

5, 17; 

5, 22; 

5, 6; 



5, 

7; 

4: 

4: 

4: 

4: 

7: 



4 
4 
4 
4 
5 

15: 11, 13. 
Courtesy — 2: 6 
6, 7; 2: 6, 8 
10; 2: 6, 11; 

2: 6, 14; 

2: 6, 17; 

2: 6, 20; 

4: 2, 23; 
9: 11, 17. 



4: 5, i 
5, 12; 
5, 15; 
5, 18; 
5, 23; 
8. 13; 



5, 5; 

8; 4 
4: 
4: 
4: 
4: 
9: 



13; 
16; 
19; 
21: 
5 



1; 2: 6, 

2: 6, 9; 
2: 6, 12; 
2: 6, 15; 
2: 6, 18; 
2: 6, 21; 
4: 10, 17; 



Covetousness — 3: 4, 15; 

16; 9: 1, 19. 
Coward— 9: 10, 11. 
Crime— 9: 10, 1; 9: 10, 

10, 6; 9: 10, 8; 9: 10, 



21. 
1; 4: 
4: 5, 
5, 9; 
5, 13: 
5, 16; 
5, 19; 
5, 24: 
3, 20; 

6; 2: 
2: 6, 
2: 6, 
2: 6, 
2: 6, 
3: 



393 



10, 19; 9: 10, 20; 9: 10, 23; 
9: 10, 25; 9: 10, 27. 

Critic — 7: 7, 2. 

Criticism— 7: 2, 25; 7: 7, 1; 7: 
7, 3; 7: 7, 4; 7: 7, 5; 7: 7, 
8; 7: 7, 9; 7: 7, 11; 7: 7, 14; 
7: 7, 18; 7: 7, 20; 7: 7, 22; 
7: 7, 24; 7: 7, 26; 7: 7, 27; 
7: 7, 28; 7: 7, 31. 

Crowding— 15: 12, 1; 15: 12, 
2; 15: 12, 3; 15: 12, 4; 15 
12, 7; 15: 12, 8; 15: 12, 9 
15: 12, 10; 15: 12, 11; 15 
12, 13; 15: 12, 14; 15: 12, 15 
15: 12, 16; 15: 12, 17; 15: 12 
18; 15: 12, 19; 15: 12, 20 
15: 12, 21; 15: 12, 22. 

Cruelty — 7: 1, 22. 

Culture— 6: 6, 1; 6: 6, 2; 6: 
6, 3; 6: 6, 4; 6: 6, 5; 6: 6, 
6; 6: 6, 7; 6: 6, 8; 6: 6, 9; 
6: 6, 10; 6: 6, 15; 8: 5, 4; 9: 

1, 15; 11: 1, 3; 11: 3, 19. 
Curiosity — 3: 6, 17. 
Dallying— 9: 6, 6; 9: 6, 11. 
Danger — 17: 7, 7. 

Days, Bright — 8: 1, 10. 

Death— 17: 8, 18; 17: 8, 24. 

Debt— 17: 12, 1; 17: 12, 2; 17: 
12, 4; 17: 12, 5; 17: 12, 6; 
17: 12, 7; 17: 12, 8; 17: 12, 
9; 17: 12, 10; 17: 12, 11; 17: 
12, 12; 17: 12, 13; 17: 12, 14; 
17: 12, 15. 

Deceit— 9: 11, 1; 9: 11, 2; 9: 

11, 4; 9: 11, 6; 9: 11, 25; 9: 
11, 27; 9: 11, 29. 

Decision — 9: 7, 6; 15: 3, 1; 15: 
3, 2; 15: 3, 3; 15: 3, 4; 15: 
3, 5; 15: 3, 6; 15: 3, 7; 15: 
3, 8; 15: 3, 9; 15: 3, 10; 15: 
3, 11; 15: 3, 12; 15: 3, 13; 
15: 3, 14; 15: 3, 15; 15: 3, 
16; 15: 3, 17; 15: 3, 18; 15: 
3, 19; 15: 3, 20; 15: 3, 22; 
15: 3, 24; 15: 3, 25; 15: 8, 4. 

Defeat— 17: 2, 4; 17: 2, 15; 17: 

2, 22; 17: 2, 23. 



Deeds— 8: 4, 20; 8: 4, 23; 8: 4, 

25. 
Deficiency — 3: 2, 17. 
Deliberation — 3: 5, 2. 
Delicacy — 6: 12, 11. 
Dependence — 16: 3, 27. 
Depravity — 8: 9, 17, 9: 2, 24; 

9: 10, 3. 
Depression — 17: 6, 10; 17: 6, 

18. 
Desire— 8: 11, 12; 14: 11, 8. 
Despair — 17: 6, 13. 
Despondency — 9: 4, 13; 17: 6, 



11; 17: 6, 12; 17: 6, 14; 17: 


6, 15; 17: 6, 16; 17: 6, 17; 


17: 6, 19; 17: 6, 20. 


Deserts— 16: 10, 1; 16: 10, 2; 


16: 10, 3; 16: 10, 4; 16: 10 


5; 16: 10, 6; 16: 10, 7; 16: 


10, 8; 16: 10, 10; 16: 10, 11; 


16: 10, 12; 16: 10, 13; 16: 


10, 14; 16: 10, 15; 16: 10, 16; 


16: 10, 17; 16: 10, 18; 16: 


10, 19; 16: 10, 20; 16: 10 


21. 


Destiny— 16: 12, 21; 16: 12, 24 


Details— 14: 8, 1; 14: 8, 2; 14 


8, 3; 14: 8, 4; 14: 8, 5; 14 


8, 6; 14: 8, 7; 14: 8, 8; 14 


8, 9; 14: 8, 12; 14: 8, 14; 14 


8, 15; 14: 8, 16; 14: 8, 17" 


14: 8, 18; 14: 8, 22; 14: 8 


23; 14: 8, 24. 


Determination — 14: 9, 1; 14: 9 


2; 14: 9, 4; 14: 9, 5; 14: 9 


6; 14: 9, 8; 14: 9, 9; 14: 9 


10; 14: 9, 11; 14: 9, 12; 14 


9, 13; 14: 9, 15; 14: 9, 18 


14: 9, 20. 


Development — 4: 12, 3; 8: 8, 5 


Devotion— 15: 4, 1; 15: 4, 3 


15: 4, 4; 15: 4, 5; 15: 4, 6 


15: 4, 7; 15: 4, 8; 15: 4, 9 


15: 4, 11; 15: 4, 12; 15: 4, 13 


15: 4, 14; 15: 4, 16; 15: 4 


17; 15: 4, 18; 15: 4, 19; 15 


4, 20; 15: 4, 21; 15: 4, 22 


15: 4, 23; 15: 4, 24. 


Differences— 9: 7, 28. 



394 



Difficulty— 14: 11, 22; 17: 4, 1; 

17: 4, 2; 17: 4, 3; 17: 4, 5; 

17: 4, 6; 17: 4, 7; 17: 4, 8; 

17: 4, 9; 17: 4, 10; 17: 4, 11; 

17: 4, 12; 17: 4, 13; 17: 4, 

14; 17: 4, 15; 17: 4, 16; 17: 

4, 17; 17: 4, 18; 17: 4, 19; 

17: 4, 20; 17: 4, 21; 17: 4, 22; 

17: 4, 24; 17: 5, 25; 17: 4, 4. 
Dignity— 6: 8, 1; 6: 8, 2; 6: 8, 



Despair — 4: 6, 30. 

Disposition — 7: 4, 18; 8: 1, 
8: 1, 2; 8: 1, 4; 8: 1, 5; 
1, 7; 8: 1, 8; 8: 1, 11; 8 
12; 8: 1, 13; 8: 1, 14; 8 
15; 9: 7, 11; 13: 3, 3. 

Dissipation — 9: 10, 15. 

Distinction — 7: 10, 16; 18: 
21. 

Distrust— 4: 4, 7; 9:5, 18. 



10, 



3 


6: 8, 


4; 6: 8, 5 


; 6: 8 


, 7 


Doubt— 9: 5, 20; 9: 5, 21; 9: 5, 


6: 8, 8; 6: 8, 9; 6 


8, 12; 


6 


22; 9: 5, 23; 12: 2, 13. 


8, 13; 6 


8, 14; 6: 


8, 15; 


6 


Dress— 6: 9, 3; 6: 9, 5; 6: 9, 


8, 17; 6 


8, 19; 6 


8, 20 


6 


6; 6: 9, 7; 6: 9, 8; 6: 9, 9; 


8, 21; 6 


8, 22; 6: 


8, 23; 


6 


6: 9, 10; 6: 9, 11; 6: 9, 12; 


8, 24; 6 


8, 25; 6: 


8, 26; 


6 


6: 9, 13; 6: 9, 14; 6: 9, 15; 


8, 28; 6 


8, 29; 6: 


8, 30; 


6 


6: 9, 16; 6: 9, 18; 6: 9, 19; 


8, 31; 6 


12, 7; 6: 


8, 6. 




6: 9, 23; 6: 9, 24; 6: 9, 25; 


Diligence — 16: 3, 21. 






6: 9, 26. 


Disagreeable, The — 3 


: 6, 8. 




Drifting— 3: 6, 24. 


Disappointment — 14 : 


5, 15; 


17 


Drill— 14: 1, 1. 


5, 2; 17: 5, 3; 17: 


5, 4; 


17 


Drudgery — 16: 1, 19. 


5, 5; 17: 5, 7; 17: 


5, 8; 


17 


Duality— 5: 10, 9. 


5, 9; 17: 5, 10; 17: 


5, 11; 


17 


Dunce— 9: 2, 21. 


5, 15; 17: 5, 20; 


17: 5, 


21 


Duplicity— 9: 11, 7; 9: 11, 22;' 


17: 5, 22. 






9: 11, 26. 


Discipline — 3: 6, 19; 


5: 12 


, 1 


Duty— 2: 3, 6; 2: 3, 19; 2: 5, 


5 


12, 2; 5: 12, 3; 


5: 12 


, 4 


1; 2: 5, 2; 2: 5, 3; 2: 5, 4; 


5 


12, 5; 5: 12, 6; 


5: 12 


, 7 


2: 5, 5; 2: 5: 6; 2: 5, 7; 2: 


5 


12, 8; 5: 12, 10; 


5: 12, 


11 


5, 8; 2: 5, 9; 2: 5, 10; 2: 5, 


5 


12, 12; 13: 6, 8; 


15: 1, 


15 


11; 2: 5, 12; 2: 5, 15; 2: 5, 


Discontent — 5: 7, 9; 


8: 3, 


17 


16; 2: 5, 17; 2: 5, 18; 2: 5, 


13: 1, 23; 17: 5, 


1; 17 


: 5 


19; 2: 5, 20; 2: 5, 21; 2: 5, 


16; 17: 5, 17; 17: 


5, 18; 


17 


22; 2: 5, 23; 2: 5, 24; 2: 5, 


5, 19. 






25; 4: 10, 18; 7: 10, 5; 5: 1, 


Discouragement — 17 : 


6, 1; 


17 


1; 8: 11, 15; 13: 6, 10; 14: 


6, 2; 17: 6, 3; 17: 


6, 4; 


17 


8, 20; 15: 8, 21. 


6, 5; 17: 6, 6; 17: 


6, 7; 


17 


Earnestness — 5: 10, 14; 5: 10, 


6, 8; 17: 6, 9; 17: 


6, 10. 




15; 5: 10, 19; 5: 10, 23; 14: 


Discretion — 3: 3, 14; 


4: 3, 


19 


11, 20. 


4: 3, 20; 4: 3, 21; 


4: 7, 


23 


Earth, The— 1: 1, 8. 


Discrimination — 8: 12, 22. 




Eccentricity— 6: 1, 20. 


Disgrace — 5: 4, 26; 


6: 12, 


21 


Economy— 14: 12, 17; 15: 10, 


9: 3, 13. 






1; 15: 10, 2; 15: 10, 3; 15: 


Dishonesty — 5: 3, 17; 


5: 3, 


18 


10, 4; 15: 10, 5; 15: 10, 6; 


5: 3, 19; 5: 3, 20. 






15: 10, 7; 15: 10, 8; 15: 10, 


Dislike— 7: 12, 6. 






9; 15: 10, 10; 15: 10, 11; 15: 


Disobedience — 2: 4, 


22; 2 


4 


10, 14; 15: 10, 15; 15: 10, 16; 


2' 


5; 2: 4 


, 24. 






15: 10, 17; 15: 10, 18; 15: 10, 



395 



19; 15: 10, 20; 15: 10, 21. 

Ecstasy — 4: 6, 30. 

Education — 4: 12, 6; 10: 16, 5 
11: 1, 1; 11: 1, 2; 11: 1, 3 
11: 1, 4; 11: 1, 5; 11: 1, 6 
11: 1, 7; 11: 1, 8; 11: 1, 9 
11: 1, 10; 11: 1, 11; 11: 1 
12; 11: 1, 13; 11: 1, 14; 11 
1, 15: 11: 1, 16; 11: 1, 17 
11: 1, 18; 11: 1, 19; 11: 2 
10; 11: 5, 3; 11: 8, 18; 12 

I, 20; 12: 6, 6; 12: 6, 16. 
Efficiency — 14: 5, 2. 
Effort— 8: 1, 19; 14: 7, 1; 14: 

II, 6; 14: 11, 7; 14: 11, 9; 
14: 11, 10; 14: 11, 12; 15: 5, 
26. 

Election— 8: 8, 1; 8: 8, 7; 8 
8, 10; 8: 8, 12; 8: 8, 15; 8 
8, 16; 8: 8, 17; 8: 8, 18; 8 
8, 19; 8: 8, 20; 8: 8, 21; 14 
10, 21. 

Eloquence — 4: 3, 20. 

Eminence — 17: 5, 24. 

Emotion — 7: 4, 20; 8: 4, 14. 

Emulation — 12: 1, 10; 16: 8, 
28. 

Endeavor — 7: 7, 7; 14: 11, 1; 
14: 11, 11. 

Endurance — 8: 10, 21; 8: 10, 
22; 8: 10, 23; 15: 8, 17. 

4, 17; 9: 4, 21; 15: 



21; 15: 8, 1; 15: 
15: 
15: 
15: 
15; 



,3; 15: 8, 4; 

6; 15: 8, 7; 

9; 15: 8, 11; 

8, 13; 15: 8, 

15: 8, 17; 15 



Energy — 9 

2, 6; 15 

8, 2; 15 

8, 5; 15 

8, 8; 15: 

8, 12; 15 

15: 8, 16; 

19; 15: 8, 20; 15 

8, 18. 
Enemy — 16: 7, 16; 

17: 7, 19. 
Enmity— 9: 12, 17; 9: 12, 18. 
Enthusiasm — 13: 8, 1; 13: 8, 2 

13: 8. 3; 13: 8, 4; 13: 8, 5 

13: 8, 7; 13: 8, 8; 13: 8, 9 

13: 8, 10; 13: 8, 11; 13: 8, 

12; 13: 8, 14; 13: 8, 15; 13 

8, 16; 13: 8, 17; 13: 8, 18; 



16 



22; 15: 
7, 17; 



13: 8, 13. 

Environment — 2: 2, 4; 16: 6, 4; 
16: 6, 13; 16: 6, 16; 16: 6, 
23. 

Envy— 9: 9, 4; 9: 12, 5; 9: 12, 
7; 9: 12, 8; 9: 12, 9; 9: 12, 
10; 9: 12, 11; 9: 12, 12; 9: 
12, 14; 9: 12, 15; 9: 12, 20. 

Equality— 4: 2, 20; 18: 5, 1; 
18: 5, 3. 

Errands — 2: 4, 4. 

Error — 4: 3, 29. 

Estimate— 13: 6, 1; 13: 6, 6. 

Etiquette— 6: 1, 4; 6: 2, 2. 

Evil— 8: 9, 8; 8: 9, 18; 8: 9, 
23. 

Example— 2: 2, 5; 2: 2, 14; 4: 
12, 9; 8: 4, 19; 8: 11, 19; 
11: 10, 3; 11: 10, 5; 11: 10, 
11; 12: 2, 1; 12: 2, 2; 12: 2 
3; 12: 2, 4; 12: 2, 5; 12: 2, 
10; 12: 2, 11; 12: 2, 12; 12: 
2, 14; 12: 2, 15; 12: 2, 16; 
12: 2, 17; 12: 2, 20; 12: 2, 
24; 12: 2, 25. 

Excellence— 3 : 2, 23; 4: 3, 13; 
5: 9, 25; 8: 11, 3; 8: 12, 19; 
8: 12, 20; 8: 12, 23; 16: 1, 
16; 16: 9, 21. 

Excess— 17: 10, 12; 17: 10, 13; 
17: 10, 15; 17: 10, 17. 

Excitement — 10: 1, 21. 

Exercise— 10: 10, 10; 10: 10, 13; 
10: 10, 22; 11: 2, 20. 

Exercises, Regular — 2: 5, 13. 

Exhaustion— 17: 10 5; 17: 10, 
10; 17: 10, 11. 

Expectation — 13: 5, 9. 

Experience — 11: 5, 17; 11: 6, 1 
11: 6, 2; 11: 6, 4; 11: 6, 5 
11: 6, 6; 11: 6, 7; 11: 6, 8 
11: 6, 9; 11: 6, 10; 11: 6, 11 
11: 6, 12; 11: 6, 13; 11: 6 
14; 11: 6, 15; 11: 6, 17; 11 
6, 18; 11: 6, 19; 11: 6, 20 
11: 6, 21; 11: 6, 23; 11: 6 
24. 

Explanation — 7: 6, 16. 



39^ 



Extravagance — 4: 6, 25; 17: 10, 
18. 

Extremes — 4: 6, 30. 

Eye, The— 2: 1, 17; 17: 9, 14. 

Face, The — 7: 12, 1. 

Failure — 3: 2, 27; 6: 8, 13; 
9: 3, 7; 9: 6, 16; 17: 2, 3; 
17: 2, 5; 17: 2, 6; 17: 2, 7; 
17: 2, 8; 17: 2, 9; 17: 2, 10; 
17: 2, 11; 17: 2, 12; 17: 2. 
13; 17: 2, 14; 17: 2, 15; 17: 
2, 16; 17: 2, 17; 17: 2, 18; 
17: 2, 19; 17: 2, 20; 17: 2, 
21; 17: 2, 22; 17: 2, 24; 17: 
2, 25. 

Fairness— 2: 1, 20. 

Faith— 13: 10, 1; 13: 10, 2; 13: 
10, 3; 13: 10, 4; 13: 10, 5; 
13: 10, 6; 13: 10, 7; 13: 10, 
8; 13: 10, 9; 13: 10, 10; 13: 
10, 11; 13: 10, 12; 13: 10, 13; 
13: 10, 14; 13: 10, 16; 13: 10, 
17; 13: 10, 18; 13: 10, 19; 
13: 10. 20; 13: 10, 21; 13: 10, 
22; 13: 10, 24; 13: 10, 26; 
13: 10, 27. 

Faithfulness— 4 : 3, 25; 5: 10, 
16; 16: 2, 23. 

Falsehood— 5: 2, 18; 9: 11, 15; 
9: 11, 16. 

Fame— 18: 10, 1; 18: 10, 2; 18 
10, 3; 18: 10, 4; 18: 10, 5 
18: 10, 6; 18: 10, 7; 18: 10 
8; 18: 10, 9; 18: 10, 10; 18 
10, 11; 18: 10, 12; 18: 10, 13 
18: 10, 14; 18: 10, 15; 18: 10 
16; 18: 10, 17; 18: 10, 18; 18 
10, 19; 18: 10, 20; 18: 10, 22 
18: 10, 23; 18: 10, 24. 

Family, The— 3: 4, 1; 18: 4, 1 
18: 4, 2; 18: 4, 4; 18: 4, 5 
18: 4, 7; 18: 4, 8; 18: 4, 9 
18: 4, 10; 18: 4, 11; 18: 4, 12 
18: 4, 13; 18: 4, 14; 18: 4, 15 
18: 4, 16. 

Fashion — 6: 2, 17; 6:9, 22. 

Fascinating — 6: 1, 24. 

Fate— 8: 2, 13; 16: 12, 23; 16: 
12, 26; 17: 8, 3. 



Fault — 7: 7, 29. 
Fault-Finding — 9: 7, 2; 9: 7, 6; 

9: 7, 10; 9: 7, 14; 9: 7, 17; 

9: 7, 18; 9: 7, 19; 9: 7, 20; 

9: 7, 22; 9: 7, 25. 
Fear— 4: 5, 5; 4: 8, 5; 9: 4, 22; 

9: 5, 3; 9: 5, 5; 9: 5, 13; 

9: 5, 14; 9: 5, 15; 9: 5, 16. 
Feeling— 7: 5, 16. 
Fickleness — 9: 6, 14. 
Fidelity— 5: 9, 8; 5: 9, 9; 5: 

9, 10; 5: 9, 11; 5: 9, 12; 5: 

9, 15. 
First, The — 1: 1, 4; 2: 1, 9. 
Firmness — 5: 9, 18; 5: 9, 19; 

12: 12, 21; 13: 12, 22. 
Flattery— 9: 12, 19. 
Flowers — 1: 2, 9. 
Folly— 2: 1, 13. 
Forbearance — 7: 6, 17; 7: 8, 18; 

7: 8, 20; 7: 8, 21; 7: 8, 22. 
Force— 14: 11, 15. 
Forefather — 12: 2, 19. 
Forethought— 13: 7, 22; 14: 1, 

4. 
Forgiveness — 7: 5, 22; 7: 6,1; 

7: 6, 2; 7: 6, 3; 7: 6, 6; 7: 

6, 7; 7: 6, 9; 7: 6, 11; 7: 6, 

12; 7: 6, 13; 7: 6, 14; 7: 6, 

15; 7: 6, 19; 7: 6, 21; 7: 6, 

22; 7: 6, 23; 7: 8, 17; 7: 8, 

18. 
Fool— 9: 2, 18; 9: 2, 19; 9: 2, 

20; 9: 2, 22. 
Foresight— 13: 7, 2; 13: 7, 4; 

13: 7, 7; 13: 7, 8; 13: 7, 9; 

13: 7, 10; 13: 7, 11; 13: 7, 12; 

13: 7, 14; 13: 7, 15; 13: 7, 16; 

13: 7, 17; 13: 7, 18; 13: 7, 23; 

13: 7, 24. 
Fortitude— 4: 2, 22; 17: 3, 18. 
Fortune— 16: 2, 19; 16: 12, 16; 

16: 12, 22; 16: 12, 25; 16: 12, 

27. 
Foundation— 14: 1, 10; 14: 1, 

18; 14: 2, 21. 
Forwardness — 9: 1, 18. 
Frankness — 5: 3, 27; 5: 3, 29; 

7: 8, 4. 
Freedom— 5: 5, 3; 10: 12, 1; 

10: 12, 3; 10: 12, 4; 10: 12, 



397 



12; 10: 12, 13; 10: 12, 14 
10: 12, 18. 
Fretting — 9: 7, 1; 9: 7, 2; 9 
7, 3; 9: 7, 5; 9: 7, 7; 9: 7, 8 
9: 7, 9. 
Friendship— 4: 11, 14; 7: 9, 7 
10: 5, 2; 10: 5, 3; 10: 5, 4 
10: 5, 6; 10: 5, 7 
10: 5, 9; 10: 5, 10 
10: 5, 12; 10: 5, 13 
10: 5, 15; 10: 5, 16 
10: 5, 18; 10: 5, 19 
10: 5, 21. 



10: 5, 5; 

10: 5, 8; 

10: 5, 11; 

10: 5, 14: 

10: 5, 17 

10: 5, 20 
Frivolity — 17: 10, 9. 
Frugality — 6: 10, 17 
Fun— 10: 10, 20. 
Fury — 4: 8, 8. 
Future— 2: 1, 1; 14 

12, 6. 
Generosity — 7 : 8, 1 

7; 8, 4; 7 

8, 8; 7: 8 



12, 5; 14: 

7: 8, 2; 
7: 



: 8, 5; 7: 8, 7; 
, 9; 7: 8, 10; 7: 8, 
7: 8, 14; 7: 8, 
8: 6, 21. 



11; 7: 8, 12 
15; 7: 8, 16; 

Geniality— 7: 8, 9. 

Genius— 9: 3, 24; 11: 7, 1; 11 
7, 2; 11: 7, 3; 11: 7, 4; 11 
7, 5; 11: 7, 6; 11: 7, 7; 11: 7 
8; 11: 7, 9; 11: 7, 10; 11: 7 
11; 11: 7, 12; 11: 7, 13; 11: 
7, 14; 11: 7, 15; 11: 7, 16 
11: 7, 17; 11: 7, 18; 11: 7, 19 
11: 7, 20; 11: 7, 21; 11: 7, 22 
11: 7, 23; 11: 7, 24; 11: 7, 25 
16: 8, 19. 

Gentility— 6: 6, 19; 6:6, 20. 

Gentleman— 4: 10, 19; 6: 3, 1 
6: 3, 2; 6: 3, 3; 6: 3, 4; 6 
3, 5; 6: 3, 6; 6: 3, 15; 6 
3, 16; 6: 3, 17; 6: 3, 18; 6 
3, 19; 6: 3, 20; 6: 3, 21; 6 
3, 22; 6: 3, 23; 6: 3, 24; 6 
3, 25; 6: 3, 26; 7: 7, 13; 7 
9, 4; 8: 12, 10; 6 : 3, 7; 6 
3, 8; 6: 3, 9; 6: 3, 10; 6: c 
11; 6: 3, 12; 6: 3, 13; 6: c 
14. 

Gentleness— 4: 5, 17; 6: 7, 12 
6: 7, 13; 6: 7, 14; 6: 7, 15 
6: 7, 16; 6: 7, 23. 



4, 16; 6: 4, 18; 6: 

2, 7. 
Gloom— 17: 6, 18. 
Glory — 5: 5, 5. 
God— 1: 1, 1; 1: 1, 3 

1 



4, 28; 18: 



1, 

1, 5; 1: 1, 6; 1: 1, 7; 1 
1: 1, 9; 1: 1, 10; 1: 1, 

2, 2; 1: 2, 3; 1: 2, 4; 1 



1: 2, 7; 1: 2, 8 
2, 11; 1: 3, 1; 
3, 4; 1: 3, 5; 1: 
1: 3, 8; 2: 3, 1; 
18: 12, 12. 
Good Cheer— 7: 5, 11. 
Goodness — 3: 2, 30; 
4: 6, 12; 4: 7, 3; 



1: 2, 
1: 3, 

, 6; 1 
3: 2, 



4: 5, 
4: 10 

: 9, 8 
9, 12 
9, 19 

9, 22; 
9, 27; 



24 



8: 9, 2; 8: 9, 5; 

9, 10; 8: 9, 11; 

9, 13; 8: 9, 14; 

9, 20; 8: 9, 21; 

9, 23; 8: 9, 25; 

9, 28; 11: 5, 7. 
Good Will— 7: 4, 1; 7: 4, 2; 

4, 4; 7: 4, 5; 7: 4, 7; 7 

9; 7: 4, 10; 7: 4, 11; 7 

12; 7: 4, 14. 
Government — 4: 4, 10; 8: 6, 

10: 12, 20. 
Gratitude— 8: 7, 1; 8: 7, 

8: 7, 4; 8: 7, 5; 8: 7, 8; 

7, 9; 8: 7, 17. 
Greatness — 3: 1, 10 

3: 2, 31; 6: 7, 6 



9, 1; 18: 9, 2 

9, 4; 18: 9, 5 

9, 7; 18: 9, 8 

9, 10; 18: 9, 



3: 1, 
7: 9, 
18: 9, 
18: 9, 
18: 9, 
11; 18: 



Girl— 4: 11, 14; 



11, 15; 6: 



18: 9, 13; 18: 9, 14; 
9, 15; 18: 9, 16; 18: 9, 
18: 9, 18; 18: 9, 19; 18: 9, 
18: 9, 21; 18: 9, 22; 18: 9, 
18: 9, 24; 18: 9, 25. 

Greed— 9: 8, 1: 9: 8, 2; 9:8 
9: 8, 4; 9: 8, 5; 9: 8, 6; 
8, 8; 9: 8, 9; 9: 8, 11; 9 
12; 9: 8, 13; 9: 8, 14; 9 
15; 9: 8, 16; 9: 8, 20. 

Grief— 17: 3, 5; 17: 3, 14; 
3, 16. 

Growth— 5: 1, 12. 

Grumbling — 9: 7, 13; 9: 7, 



7: 

: 4, 

4, 

22; 

2; 



11; 

13; 

3; 

6; 

9; 

9, 
18: 
17; 
20; 
23; 



17: 



24. 



398 



Guilt— 4: 7, 18; 10: 11, 
11, 23. 

Habit— 3: 5, 11; 4: 7, 7; 
1; 4: 10, 2; 4:- 10, 4; 4 
4: 10,6; 4: 10, 7; 4: 
4: 10, 9; 4: 10, 10; 
4: 10, 13; 4: 10, 14; 



4: 10, 16; 

4: 10, 19; 

4: 10, 22; 

8: 9, 9; j 
Half-Doing — 3 

3: 2, 20. 
Happiness — 2: 

3: 3, 29; 4: 

8: 3, 10; 8: 

10: 1, 2; 10 



4: 10, 17; 
4: 10, 20; 
4: 10, 23; 
: 12, 24. 
-3: 2, 18; 

5, 7; 
21, 9; 

6, 23; 
1, 3; 



7; 10: 

4: 10 
10, 5 
10, 8 
10, 11 
10, 15 
10, 18 
10, 21 
10, 24 



3: 2, 19; 



2: 
4: 
10: 
10: 
10: 
10: 
10: 



5, 22 
4, 15 
1, 1 
1, 4 
1, 8 
1, 12 
1, 15 
1, 18 



10: 1, 5; 10: 1, 6; 
10: 1, 9; 10: 1, 11; 
10: 1, 13; 10: 1, 14; 
10: 1, 16; 10: 1, 17; 10 
10: 1, 19; 15: 4, 16. 

Harshness— 6: 7, 4; 7: 5, 15; 
7: 5, 20. 

Haste— 4: 3, 29. 

Hatred— 4: 4, 7; 4: 4, 8. 

Haughtiness — 9: 9, 23. 

Health— 4: 6, 17; 6: 10, 
2, 1; 10: 2, 2; 10: 2, 
2, 4; 10: 2, 7; 10: 2, 
2, 10; 10: 2, 11; 10: 
10: 2, 14; 10: 2, 15; 10 
10: 2, 17; 10: 2, 18; 10 
10: 2, 21; 10: 2, 23; 10 
10: 2, 25; 10: 4, 15. 

Heart, The— 8: 9, 15; 10: 

Heartlessness — 7: 8, 16. 

Help— 5: 7, 20. 

Heredity — 10: 6, 



7; 


10: 


3; 


10: 


9; 


10: 


2, 


12; 


: 2, 


16; 


: 2, 


20; 


: 2, 


24; 



8, 23. 



10: 6, 5; 10: 



3; 10: 
6, 7; 10: 



10: 6, 10; 10: 6, 11; 10: 
10: 6, 13; 10: 6, 14; 10: 
10: 6, 16; 10: 6, 17; 10: 
10: 6, 19; 10: 6, 20; 10: 
10: 6, 22; 10: 6, 23; 10: 
10: 6, 26. 

Heroism — 4: 5, 4; 4: 5, 
5, 26. 

Hesitation — 3: 6, 16; 9: 
9: 5, 23. 

High Aim— 4: 12, 10. 



6, 4 
6, 8 
6, 12 
6, 15 
6, 18 
6, 21 
6, 25 

11; 4: 

5, 11; 



High Birth— 6: 3, 24. 

History— 11: 10, 1; 11: 10, 2; 
11: 10, 4; 11: 10, 9; 11: 10, 
10; 11: 10, 15; 11: 10, 16. 

Home — 6: 2, 3; 8: 6, 20; 12: 2 
7; 12: 12, 1; 12: 12, 2; 12 
12, 3; 12: 12, 4; 12: 12, 5 
12: 12, 6; 12: 12, 8; 12: 12, 9 
12: 12, 10; 12: 12, 11; 12: 12 
12; 12: 12, 13; 12: 12, 14 
12: 12, 15; 12: 12, 16; 12: 12 
17; 12: 12, 19. 

Honesty— 4: 2, 23; 5: 3, 1; 5 
3, 2; 5: 3, 3; 5: 3, 4; 5: 3, 5 
5: 3, 6; 5: 3, 7; 5: 3, 8 
5: 3, 9; 5: 3, 10; 5: 3, 11 
5: 3, 15; 5: 3, 16 



5: 3, 12; 

5: 3, 20; 

5: 3, 23; 

5: 3, 26; 

5: 3, 29; 



5: 3, 21; 



22 



24; 5: 3, 25 



5: 3, 27; 
14: 7, 7. 



t, 28 



Honor — 5: 8, 3; 5: 8, 



;; 5: 8, 8 
5: 8, 11 
5: 8, 14 
5: 8, 20 



5: 8, 9; 5: 8, 10; 

5: 8, 12; 5: 8, 13; 

5: 8, 15; 5: 8, 17; 

5: 8, 23; 6: 12, 5. 
Hour— 14: 6, 9; 14: 6, 24. 
Hope— 5: 11, 8; 8: 2, 16; 13: 

11, 1; 13: 11, 2; 13: 11, 3; 

13: 11, 5; 13: 11, 6; 13: 11, 7; 

13: 11, 8; 13: 11, 9; 13: 11, 

10; 13: 11, 11; 13: 11, 12; 13: 

11: 13; 13: 11, 14; 13: 11, 15; 

13: 11, 16; 13: 11, 17; 13: 

11, 18; 13: 11, 19; 13: 11, 20; 

13: 11, 21; 13: 11, 22; 13: 11, 

23; 13: 11, 24. 
Hospitality— 6: 5, 21; 7: 1, 17. 
Humility— 6: 10, 13; 6: 12, 15; 

6: 12, 16; 6: 12, 17; 6: 12, 

18; 6: 12, 19; 6: 12, 26. 
Humor— 6: 11, 19; 7: 11, 12. 
Hurry — 14: 1, 6. 
Hypocrisy — 9: 11, 8; 9: 11, 9; 

9: 11, 10; 9: 11, 11; 9: 11, 12; 

9: 11, 13; 9: 11, 18; 9: 11, 19; 

9: 11, 20. 
Ideal— 2: 2, 3; 3: 2, 16; 8: 3, 

12; 9: 8, 19; 13: 4, 1; 13: 4, 

2; 13: 4, 3; 13: 4, 4; 13: 4, 

5; 13: 4, 6; 13: 4, 7; 13: 4, 



399 



9; 13: 4, 10; 13, 4, 14; 13 

4, 15; 13: 4, 16; 13: 4, 17 
13: 4, 18; 13: 5, 11; 13: 5, 18 
13: 5, 22; 13: 4, 19; 13: 4 
20; 13: 4, 21; 13: 5, 1; 13 

5, 4; 13: 5, 8; 13: 5, 10. 
Idea— 13: 4, 8; 13: 5, 2; 13: 

5, 6. 

Idle, The— 3: 6, 10. 

Idleness— 9: 2, 16; 15: 5, 12; 
17: 11, 1; 17: 11, 2; 17: 11, 4; 
17: 11, 5; 17: 11, 10; 17: 11, 
13; 17: 11, 14; 17: 11, 16; 
17: 11, 17; 17: 11, 18; 17: 11, 
19; 17: 11, 20; 17: 9, 9; 
17: 11, 21; 17: 11, 22; 17: 
11, 23; 17: 11, 24; 17: 11, 27; 
17: 11, 28. 

Ignorance — 9: 2, 1; 9: 2, 3; 



9 


2, 4; 9: 2, 5; 9: 2, 6; 


9 


2, 7; 9: 2, 8; 9: 2, 9; 


9 


2, 10; 9: 2, 11; 9: 2, 14; 


9 


2, 15; 9: 2, 16; 9: 2, 26. 


Illusion— 8: 11, 22; 8: 11, 23; 


13: 3, 5. 


Imagery — 13: 4, 13. 


Imagination— 4: 9, 8; 13: 4, 11; 


13: 4, 2. 


Imitation — 2: 1, 8; 2: 1, 16; 


12: 3, 1; 12: 3, 2; 12: 3, 3; 


12: 3, 4; 12: 3, 5; 12: 3, 6; 


12: 3, 7; 12: 3, 8; 12: 3, 9; 


12: 3, 10; 12: 3, 11; 12: 3, 12; 


12: 3, 13; 12: 3, 15; 12: 3, 16; 


12: 3, 18; 12: 3, 19; 12: 3, 20; 


12: 3, 21; 12: 3, 22; 12: 3, 23; 


12: 3, 24. 


Immortality— 18: 11, 2; 18: 11, 


3; 18: 11, 4; 18: 11, 5; 18: 


11, 6; 18: 11, 7; 18: 11, 8; 


18: 11, 9; 18: 11, 10; 18: 11, 


11; 18: 11, 12; 18: 11, 13; 


18: 11, 14; 18: 11, 15; 18: 11, 


16; 18: 11, 17; 18: 11, 18; 


18: 11, 19; 18: 11, 20. 


Impartiality — 4: 4, 10; 4: 4, 11. 


Impatience — 9: 7, 21. 


Impertinence — 9: 7, 15. 


Impossibility — 9: 5, 3; 9: 5, 17. 


Impressions — 2: 1, 12. 


Imr. 


>rovement— 11:9, 1; 11:9,3; 



11: 9, 4; 11: 9, 7; 11: 9, 8 
11: 9, 9; 11: 9, 10; 11: 9, 12 
11: 9, 13; 11: 9, 14; 11: 9, 15 
11: 9, 16; 11: 9, 19; 11: 9, 21 
11: 9, 22; 11: 9, 23; 11: 9, 25 
12: 2, 12. 

Impulse— 2: 1, 10; 8: 4, 11. 

Incincerity — 5: 10, 7; 5: 10, 11. 

Incompleteness — 15: 7, 1. 

Indecision — 3: 6, 2; 9: 6, 1; 
9: 6, 2; 9: 6, 7. 

Independence — 4: 12, 11; 4: 12, 
12; 4: 12, 13; 4: 12, 14. 

Indignation — 4: 8, 8; 4: 8, 30; 
5: 10, 25; 7: 4, 16. 

Indifference — 9: 6, 3; 9: 6, 4; 
9: 6, 5; 9: 6, 8; 9: 6, 9; 
9: 6, 10; 9: 6, 12; 9: 6, 13; 
9: 6, 15; 9: 6, 17; 9: 6, 20; 
9: 6, 22; 9: 6, 24; 9: 6, 25; 
15: 4, 2. 

Indiscretion — 5: 1, 17. 

Individuality — 4: 12, 1; 4: 12, 
2; 4: 12, 3; 4: 12, 4; 4: 12, 
5; 4: 12, 6; 4: 12, 7; 4: 12, 
8; 4: 12, 9; 4: 12, 10; 4: 12, 
15; 4: 12, 16; 4: 12, 18; 4: 
12, 19; 7: 7, 16. 

Indolence— 17: 11, 3; 17: 11, 6; 
17: 11, 7; 17: 11, 8; 17: 11, 
11; 17: 11, 12; 17: 11, 15; 
17: 11, 25; 17: 11, 26. 

Indulgence— 17: 12, 3. 

Industry— 5: 9, 15; 8: 3, 16; 
14: 7, 16; 14: 8, 19; 14: 11, 
18; 15: 5, 1; 15: 5, 2; 15: 5, 
3; 15: 5, 4; 15: 5, 5; 15: 5, 
6; 15: 5, 7; 15: 5, 8; 15: 5, 
9; 15: 5, 10; 15: 5, 11; 15: 5, 
12; 15: 5, 13; 15: 5, 14; 15: 
5, 15; 15: 5, 16; 15: 5, 17; 
15: 5, 18; 15: 5, 19; 15: 5, 
20; 15: 5, 21; 15: 5, 23; 15: 
5, 24; 15: 5, 25; 15: 5, 26; 
17: 6, 13. 

Infancy — 2: 1, 12. 

Inferiors— 6: 8, 11. 

Inferiority— 6 : 12, 20; 14: 5, 
15. 

Infirmities — 4: 8, 4. 



400 



Influence— 2: 2, 6; 4: 5, 26; 10 
3, 10; 11: 12, 1; 11: 12, 2 
11: 12, 3; 11: 12, 4; 11: 12 
5; 11: 12, 6; 11: 12, 7; 11 
12, 8; 11: 12, 9; 11: 12, 10 
11: 12, 11; 11: 12, 12; 11: 12, 
13; 11: 12, 13; 12: 2, 9. 

Information — 11: 4, 11. 

Ingratitude— 8: 7, 10; 8: 7, 11; 
8: 7, 13; 8: 7, 14; 8: 7, 16; 
8: 7, 18; 9: 7, 26. 

Initiative, The — 3: 6, 15. 

Injuries — 9: 7, 16. 

Injustice— 4: 4, 29; 7: 4, 15. 

Innocence — 4: 7, 18; 4: 7, 22. 

Tnquiry — 12: 7, 14. 

Inquisitiveness — 9: 10, 14. 

Insensibility — 7: 8, 24. 

Instructors — 12: 1, 8. 

Integrity— 4: 4, 17; 4: 7, 18; 
5: 9, 1; 5: 9, 2; 5: 9, 3; 5: 
9, 4; 5: 9, 5; 5: 9, 6; 5: 9, 
7; 5: 9, 16; 5: 9, 17; 5: 9, 
23; 5: 9, 26; 9: 11, 3. 

Intellect— 12: 5, 16; 12: 5, 17; 
12: 5, 18; 12: 5, 19. 

Intelligence— 6 : 4, 25; 6: 4, 26; 
12: 5, 13; 12: 5, 27; 15: 1, 
26. 

Intemperance — 4: 6, 4; 4: 6, 5; 
4: 6, 13; 4: 6, 28; 4: 6, 32. 

Interest— 12: 4, 20; 13: 6, 7. 

Invention — 15: 2, 10. 

Ire— 4: 8, 8. 

Irresolution — 9: 5, 4. 

Jealousy— 9: 12, 1; 9: 12, 2; 9 
12, 3; 9: 12, 4; 9: 12, 5; 9 
12, 6; 9: 12, 7; 9: 12, 13; 9 
12, 20; 9: 12, 21; 9: 12, 22 
9: 12, 26; 9: 12, 31. 

Jesus — 2: 3, 1. 

Joke— 9: 11, 23. 

Joy— 10: 8, 20; 10: 8, 21; 10: 
9, 23. 

Judge— 7: 7, 2. 

Judgment— 4: 4, 13; 7: 7, 19; 
7: 7, 21; 7: 7, 23; 7: 7, 30; 
12: 10, 1; 12: 10, 25; 13: 6, 
2; 13: 6, 3; 13: 6, 4; 13: 6, 



11; 13: 6, 12; 13: 6, 13; 13: 
6, 14; 13: 6, 15; 13: 6, 16; 
13: 6, 17; 13: 6, 19; 13: 6 
20; 13: 6, 21; 13: 6, 22; 13: 

6, 23; 4: 3, 2; 7: 9, 6. 
Justice — 2: 1, 19; 4: 2, 23; 4 

4, 1; 4: 4, 2; 4: 4, 3; 4: 4, 4 
4: 4, 5; 4: 4, 6; 4: 4, 7; 4 
4, 9; 4: 4, 10; 4: 4, 12; 4 

• 4, 13; 4: 4, 14; 4: 4, 15; 4 
4, 16; 4: 4, 17; 4: 4, 18; 4 
4, 19; 4: 4, 20; 4: 4, 21; 4 
4, 22; 4: 4, 23; 4: 4, 24; 4 
4, 26; 4: 4, 27; 4: 4, 28; 7 
8, 10; 8: 5, 21. 

Kindness— 4: 2, 23; 6: 7, 1; 6 

7, 2; 6: 7, 3; 6: 7, 4; 6: 7, 5 
6: 7, 6; 6: 7, 7; 6: 7, 9; 6 
7, 10; 6: 7, 11; 6: 7, 18; 6 
7, 19; 6: 7, 20; 6: 7, 21; 6 

7, 22. 

Knave — 9: 10, 4. 

Knowledge— 4: 12, 8; 9: 2, 17 
10: 4, 7; 11: 4, 1; 11: 4, 2 
11: 4, 3; 11: 4, 4; 11: 4, 5 
11: 4, 6; 11: 4, 9; 11: 4, 10 
11: 4, 12; 11: 4, 14; 11: 4, 17 
11: 4, 18; 11: 4, 19; 11: 4, 
20; 11: 4, 21; 11: 4, 22; 11: 
4, 24; 11: 5, 18; 16: 3, 4; 16: 

3, 14. 

Labor— 14: 11, 19; 15: 4, 10; 
16: 1, 1; 16: 1, 2; 16: 1, 4; 
16: 1, 5; 16: 1, 7; 16: 1, 9; 
16: 1, 10; 16: 1, 11; 16: 1, 
12; 16: 1, 13; 16: 1, 14; 16: 

I, 17; 16: 1, 18. 

Lady— 6: 4, 1; 6: 4, 3; 6: 4, 4; 
6: 4, 5; 6: 4, 7; 6: 4, 8; 6 

4, 10; 6: 4, Is.; 6: 4, 13; 6 
4, 14; 6: 4, 15; 6: 4, 17; 6 
4, 21; 6: 4, 23; 6: 4, 24; 6 
4, 27. 

Laughter— 6: 11, 18. 
Law— 6: 1, 1; 11: 3, 22. 
Laziness— 9: 2, 2; 9: 6, 18; 17: 

II, 29. 

Leader— 18: 8, 1; 18: 8, 2; 18: 

8, 3; 18: 8, 6; 18: 8, 8; 18: 



40i 



8, 9; 18: 8, 10; 18: 8, 14; 
8, 16; 18: 8, 17; 18: 8, 
18: 8, 19; 18: 8, 20. 
Learning — 11: 6, 25. 



10: 10, 27; 



Leisure— 10: 10, 

14: 6, 6. 
Lessons — 14: 2, 13. 
Liberty— 10: 12, 5; 10: 12, 

10: 12, 7; 10: 12, 8; 10: 

9; 10: 12, 10; 10: 12, 15; 

12, 17; 10: 12, 19. 
Life— 2: 1, 5; 4: 9, 9; 5 

5: 8, 5; 5: 12, 9; 8: 2, 6; 

8, 11; 10: 7, 1; 10: 7, 2; 

7, 3; 10: 7, 4; 10: 7, 6; 

7, 7; 10: 7, 8; 10: 7, 9; 

7, 10; 10: 7, 11; 10: 7, 

10: 7, 13; 10: 7, 14; 10 

15; 10: 7, 16; 10: 7, 17; 

7, 18; 10: 7, 19; 10: 7, 

10: 7, 21; 10: 7, 22; 10 

23; 10: 7, 24; 13: 11, 4; 

6, 21; 14: 8, 13. 
Life-Work— 16 : 6, 6. 
Little Things— 3: 1, 6 

3: 1, 9; 3: 1, 12; 

3: 1, 14; 3: 1, 15; 

3: 1, 19; 3: 1, 20; 

3: 1, 24; 3: 1, 25; 
Longevity — 6 : 6, 11 ; 

6: 6, 13; 10: 2, 18. 
Longing — 11: 10, 12. 
Loss— 9: 2, 12; 14: 6 
Love — 2: 3, 2; 2: 3, 3 

2: 3, 5; 2 

3, 8; 2: 3, 10; 

3, 12; 2: 3, 13; 

3, 15; 2: 3, 16; 

3, 18; 2: 3, 19; 

3, 21; 2: 3, 22; 4: 2, 21; 

4, 8; 7: 11, 2; 7: 11, 7; 8 
21; 8: 10, 18; 8: 12, 8; 
4, 3; 10: 8, 22; 13: 10, 
2: 3. 9. 

Luck— 13: 7: 5; 14: 10, 12; 
12, 1; 16: 12, 2; 16: 12, 
16: 12, 5; 16: 12, 6; 16: 
7; 16: 12, 8; 16: 12, 9; 
12, 10; 16: 12, 11; 16: 12, 



6; 
12, 
10: 



8, 4 
; 8 
10 
10 
10 
12 
1 
10 
20 

14 



6; 2: 3 
2: 3, 

2: 

2: 
2 



3: 1 

1, 

1, 

1, 
1, 3, 

6, 



20. 
2: 3 
, 7; 

3, 11; 

3, 14; 

3, 17; 

3, 20; 



7 
13 
16 

22 

12; 



4 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

7 
: i 
10 
23 

16: 
3; 
12. 
16: 
12; 



16: 12, 13; 6: 12, 14; 16: 12, 

15; 16: 12, 17; 16: 12, 18; 

16: 12, 19; 16: 12, 20; 16: 12, 

28; 16: 12, 29. 
Luxury— 8: 9, 7; 15: 10, 17; 

18: 5, 8. 
Lying— 5: 2, 19; 5: 2, 21; 5: 2, 

22; 9: 10, 21; 9: 11, 28. 
Malignity— 7 : 6, 10. 
Man— 4: 1, 1; 4: 1, 2; 8: 11, 

13; 8: 11, 16; 18: 1, 1; 18 

1, 2; 18: 1, 3; 18: 1, 4; 18 

1, 5; 18: 1, 6; 18: 1, 7; 18 

1, 8; 18: 1, 9; 18: 1, 10; 18 

1, 11; 18: 1, 12; 18: 1, 13 

18: 1 ,14; 18: 1, 15; 18: 1, 16 

18: 1, 17; 18: 1, 18; 18: 1, 

19; 18: 11, 1. 
Manhood— 4: 5, 4; 4: 5, 13; 

1, 1; 5: 1, 2; 5: 1, 3; 5 

4; 5: 1, 5; 5:1 

5: 1, 8; 5: 1, 9; 

1, 11; 5: 1, 14; 

1, 16; 5: 1, 18; 

1, 20; 5: 1, 21; 

1, 23; 6: 2, 7; 

10, 12; 9: 10, 26; 5: 1, 13. 
Manliness — 8: 9, 1. 
Manner— 4: 10, 12; 6: 1, 1; 6 



6; 5: 1 


7 


5: 1, 10; 


5 


5: 1, 15; 


5 


5: 1, 19; 


5 


5: 1, 22; 


5 


9: 3, 11; 


9 



2; 6: 

6: 1, 

1, 10; 

1, 13; 

1, 16; 

1, 19; 

1, 23: 

8, 9. 



6: 1, 5 
1, 



6: 1, 11; 

6: 1, 14; 

6: 1, 17; 

6: 1, 21; 

6: 5, 7; 



6: 1 
6: 1, 9 

: 1, 12 
: 1, 15 
: 1, 18 
: 1, 22 
: 5, 24 



18: 
18 
18: 



Marriage — 18 : 3, 1 ; 
18: 3, 3; 18: 3, 4 
18: 3, 6; 18: 3, 1; 
18: 3, 9; 18: 3, 10; 18: 3, 11 
18: 3, 12; 18: 3, 13; 18: 3 
14; 18: 3, 15; 18: 3, 16; 18 
3, 17; 18: 3, 18; 18: 3, 19 
18: 4, 6; 18: 4, 17. 

Martyr— 7: 10, 21. 

Master— 14: 1, 22; 14: 7, 10 
15: 7, 18. 

Mastery— 14: 1, 11; 14: 1, 13. 



402 



Meanness — 9: 10, 7; 9: 10, 17 
Memory— 12: 8, 2; 12: 8, 3; 12 
8, 4; 12: 8, 5; 12: 8, 6; 12 
8, 7; 12: 8, 8; 12: 8, 9; 12 
8, 10; 12: 8, 11; 12: 8, 12 
12: 8, 13; 12: 8, 14; 12: i 
15; 12: 8: 16; 12: 8, 17; 12 

8, 18; 12: 8, 19; 12: 8, 20. 
Mercy— 7: 5, 1; 7: 5, 2; 7: 5, 

3 ; 7: 5, 4; 7: 5, 5; 7: 5, 6 
7: 5, 7; 7: 5, 8; 7: 5, 9; 7 
5, 12; 7: 5, 18; 7: 5, 19; 7 
5, 21; 7: 5, 23. 
Merit— 14: 1, 8; 14: 11, 5; 16 

9, 1; 16: 9, 2; 16: 9, 3; 16 
9, 4; 16: 9, 5; 16: 9, 6; 16 
9, 7; 16: 9, 8; 16: 9, 9; 16 
9, 12; 16: 9, 13; 16: 9, 14 
16: 9, 15; 16: 9, 16; 16: 9, 17 
16: 9, 20; 16: 9, 22; 18: 10 
25. 

Method— 15: 1,1; 15: 1, 2; 15 
1, 3; 15: 1, 5; 15: 1, 6; 15 
1, 8; 15: 1, 9; 15: 1, 10; 15 

1, 11; 15: 1, 12; 15: 1, 13 
15: 1, 14; 15: 1, 18; 15: 1, 
19. 

Mind— 4: 1, 14; 4: 9, 9; 4: 9, 
20; 4: 9, 21; 11: 4, 7; 11: 4, 
8; 12: 7, 9; 12: 7, 24; 12: 5, 
20; 12: 5, 21; 12: 5, 22; 12: 
5, 23; 12: 5, 24; 12: 5, 26; 
12: 8, 1. 

Mind and Body— 11: 2, 1; 11 

2, 2; 11: 2, 3; 11: 2, 5; 11 
2, 6; 11: 2, 7; 11: 2, 8; 11 
2, 9; 11: 2, 11; 11: 2, 12; 11 
2, 13; 11: 2, 14; 11: 2, 15 
11: 2, 16; 11: 2, 17; 11: 2 
19; 11: 2, 21; 11: 2, 22; 11 
2, 23. 

Might— 4: 4, 25. 

Misery— 4: 4, 15; 17: 3, 8. 

Misfortune— 17: 1, 1; 17: 1, 13; 
17: 1, 14; 17: 1, 16; 17: 1, 
17; 17: 1, 20; 17: 1, 23. 

Mistake— 11: 5, 12; 11: 6, 28; 
17: 4, 9. 

Models— 12: 2, 23; 12: 3, 17; 



13: 5, 8. 

Moderation— 4 : 6, 15; 7: 7, 15 
15: 12, 6. 

Modesty— 6: 12, 1; 6: 12, 2 
6: 12, 3; 6: 12, 4; 6: 12, 5 
6: 12, 6; 6: 12, 7; 6: 12, 8 
6: 12, 9; 6: 12, 10; 6: 12, 11 
6: 12, 12; 6: 12, 14; 6: 12 
23; 6: 12, 24; 6: 12, 25; 
12, 27. 

Moment— 14: 6, 8; 14: 6, 10 
14: 6, 11; 14: 6, 16; 14: 6 
18; 14: 6, 25; 14: 6, 14. 

Money— 5: 12, 4; 10: 3, 7; 10 

3, 10; 10: 3, 11; 10: 3, 20 
10: 3, 22; 10: 3, 24; 10: 3 
26; 10: 4, 1; 10: 4, 14; 10 

4, 17; 17: 8, 20; 18: 6, 2 
18: 6, 6. 

Morality— 1: 3, 9; 2: 4, 25; 4 
11, 4; 4: 12, 21; 8: 6, 19; 8 
9, 16; 8: 12, 3; 11: 4, 16; 11 
9, 5; 12: 12, 18. 

Mother— 2: 2, 12; 2: 2, 13; 2 
2, 14; 2: 2, 15; 12: 12, 7. 

Motive— 7: 7, 17; 14: 3, 10. 

Music— 6: 6, 21. 

Murmuring — 9: 7, 4. 

Nature— 1: 1, 2; 6: 10, 6; 11 
8, 1; 11: 8, 2; 11: 8, 3; 11 
8, 4; 11: 8, 5; 11: 8, 6; 11 
8, 7; 11: 8, 8; 11: 8, 9; 11 
8, 10; 11: 8, 11; 11: 8, 12 
11: 8, 13; 11: 8, 14; 11: 8, 15 
11: 8, 16; 11: 8, 17; 11: 8 
19; 11: 8, 20; 11: 8, 22; 11 
8, 23; 11: 8, 24; 11: 8, 25 
11: 8, 26. 

Neatness— 3: 1, 4; 15: 1, 21. 

Necessity— 11: 11, 1: 11: 11, 2 
11: 11, 4; 11: 11, 5; 11: 11 
6; 11: 11, 7; 11: 11, 8; 11 
11, 10; 11: 11, 11; 11: 11, 12 
11: 11, 13; 11: 11, 14; 11 
11, 15: 11: 11, 16; 11: 11, 17 
11: 11, 18; 11: 11, 19; 11: 11 
20; 11: 11, 21. 

Negligence— 7: 10, 6; 9: 6, 21 

Neighborliness — 7: 9, 27. 



403 



Nobility— 4: 2, 17; 5: 8, 7; 5 
8, 16; 5: 8, 19; 5: 8, 21; 6: 

8, 27; 7: 4, 19; 7: 5, 13; 7 

9, 12; 7: 10, 20. 
Notion— 15: 1, 4. 
Novelty— 15: 2, 23. 
Nuisance — 2: 2, 10. 
Occasion — 14: 1, 17. 
Occupation — 16: 4, 3; 16: 4, 4: 

16: 4, 7; 16: 4, 8; 16: 4, 19; 
16: 4, 20; 16: 4, 21. 

Obedience— 2: 4, 1; 2: 4, 2; 2 
4, 3; 2: 4, 5; 2: 4, 6; 2: 4 
7; 2: 4, 8; 2: 4, 9; 2: 4, 10 
2: 4, 12; 2: 4, 13; 2: 4, 14 
2: 4: 15; 2: 4, 16; 2: 4, 17 
2: 4, 18; 2: 4, 19; 2: 4, 20 
2: 4, 21; 3: 5, 14; 13: 6, 18 

Observation — 12: 4, 1; 12: 4 
4; 12: 4, 5; 12: 4, 6; 12: 4 
7; 12: 4, 8; 12: 4, 9; 12: 4 
10; 12: 4, 11; 12: 4, 13; 12 
4, 14; 12: 4, 15; 12: 4, 16 
12: 4, 17; 12: 4, 18; 12: < 
21; 12: 4, 23; 12: 4, 24; 12 
4, 25. 

Obstacle— 17: 4, 23; 17: 5, 23. 

Opinion— 10: 12, 16; 12: 10, 2 
12: 10, 3; 12: 10, 4; 12: 10 
5; 12: 10, 6; 12: 10, 7; 12 

10, 8; 12: 10, 9; 12: 10, 10 
12: 10, 11; 12: 10, 12; 12 
10, 13; 12: 10, 14; 12: 10, 15 
12: 10, 17; 12: 10, 18; 12 
10, 19; 12: 10, 20; 12: 10, 21 
12: 10, 22; 12: 10, 23; 12: 10 
24; 12: 10, 26; 12: 10, 27. 

Opportunity — 3: 5, 21; 9:4, 12 
13: 7, 6; 13: 7, 19; 16: 2, 1 
16: 2, 2; 16: 2, 3; 16: 2, 4 
16: 2, 5; 16: 2, 6; 16: 2, 7 



16: 
16: 

14: 



2, 8; 16: 2, 9; 16: 2, 10 



2, 11; 16: 2, 13; 16: \ 
16: 2, 15; 16: 2, 16; 16 
2, 17; 16: 2, 18; 16: 2, 19 
16: 2, 20; 16: 2, 21; 16: 2, 
24; 16: 10, 12. 
Opposition — 16: 7, 5; 16: 7, 6; 
16: 7, 7; 16: 7, 13; 16: 7, 15; 
16: 7, 18. 



2, 14: 



15: 2, 
15: 2, 
15, 2, 



Optimism — 7: 4, 13; 8: 2, 1; 

8: 2, 3; 8: 2, 4; 8: 2, 5; 8: 

2, 7; 8: 2, 8; 8: 2, 9; 8: 2 

10; 8: 2, 11; 8: 

2, 15; 8: 2, 17. 
Order— 14: 8, 19. 
Originality — 15: 2, 1 

15: 2, 3; 15: 2, 4 

15: 2, 7; 15: 2, 11 

15: 2, 14; 15: 2, 15; 15 

16; 15: 2, 17; 15: 2, 18; 

2, 19; 15: 2, 20; 15: 2, 

15: 2, 22. 
Over-Culture — 15: 12, 5. 
Pain— 8: 10, 17; 17: 5, 13; 

5, 14. 
Parents — 2: 2, 1; 2 

2, 8; 2: 2, 11. 
Partiality — 4: 4, 8. 
Party— 12: 5, 14. 
Passion — 4: 6, 5; 4 

8, 1; 4: 8, 2; 4: 

4; 4: 8, 5; 4: 8, 7; 8: 11, 

14; 17: 10, 2. 



17: 
2, 2; 2: 

6, 9; 4: 
3; 4: 8, 



Patience — 7: 8, 23; 8: 10, 


1; 


8: 10, 2; 8: 10, 3; 8: 10, 


4; 


.8: 10, 5; 8: 10, 6; 8: 10, 


7; 


8: 10, 8; 8: 10, 9; 8: 10, 


10; 


8: 10, 12; 8: 10, 13; 8: 


10 


14; 8: 10, 15; 8: 10, 16; 


8: 


10, 19; 8: 10, 20; 8: 10, 


24: 


8: 10, 25; 13: 8, 18. 




Patriotism — 8: 6, 1; 8: 6, 


2; 


8: 6, 3; 8: 6, 4; 8: 6, 5; 


8: 


6, 6; 8: 6, 7; 8: 6, 8; 8 


6 


9; 8: 6, 10; 8: 6, 11; 8 


6 


12; 8: 6, 13; 8: 6, 15; 8 


6 


17; 8: 6, 18; 8: 6, 19; 8 


6 



21; 8: 6, 16. 

Peace— 10: 4, 6; 12: 5, 5. 

Penitent— 7: 6, 18. 

Perfection— 8 : 12, 1; 8: 12, 
8: 12, 5; 8: 12, 6; 8: 12, 
8: 12, 11; 8: 12, 12; 8: 
13; 8: 12, 15; 8: 12, 16; 
12, 18. 

Perseverance — 5: 9, 15; 7: 
14; 14: 7, 5; 14: 7, 9; 15 
1; 15: 9, 2; 15: 9, 3; 15: 



12, 
9, 

9. 



4Q4 



4; 15: 9, 5; 15: 9, 6; 15: 9 
7; 15: 9, 8; 15: 9, 9; 15: 9 
10; 15: 9, 11; 15: 9, 12; 15: 
9. 13; 15: 9, 14; 15: 9, 15; 
15: 9, 16; 15: 9, 17; 15: 9 
18; 15: 9, 19. 

Personality — 4: 12, 17. 

Philanthropy— 7: 11, 13. 

Philosophy — 8: 11, 2; 
8: 11, 5; 8: 11, 6; 



11, 4; 
11, 7; 
I: 11, 



8: 11, 8; 8: 11, 9; 

10. 
Plan— 14: 3, 1. 
Play— 10: 10, 7. 
Pleasing— 6: 2, 5. 
Pleasure— 9: 1, 17; 10: 

10: 1, 10; 10: 1, 20; 10: 10 

6; 10: 10, 21; 17: 10, 8; 17 

10, 14. 

Pluck— 15: 11, 1; 15: 11, 2 
15: 11, 3; 15: 11, 4; 15: 11 
5; 15: 11, 6; 15: 11, 7; 15: 

11, 8; 15: 11, 9; 15: 11, 10 
15: 11, 11; 15: 11, 12; 15: 11 
15; 15: 11, 16; 15: 11, 17 
15: 11, 18; 15: 11, 19. 

Politeness— 2: 6, 2; 6: 1, 3; 6 
5, 1; 6: 5, 2; 6: 5, 4; 6: 5 
5; 6: 5, 6; 6; 5, 9; 6: 5, 11 
6: 5, 12; 6: 5, 13; 6: 5, 15 
6: 5, 22; 6: 5, 10. 

Poverty— 4: 2, 18; 7: 5, 25; 8 
3, 9; 8: 11, 18; 9: 2, 13; 9 
3, 1; 9: 3, 3; 9: 3, 4; 9: l 



5; 9: 3, 
9: 3. 10; 


6; 9: 3, 8 
9: 3, 11; 


; 9: 3, 9 
9: 3, 12 


9: 3, 14; 


9: 3, 15; 


9: 3, 17 


9: 3, 18; 


9: 3, 19; 


9: 3, 21 


9: 3, 22; 


17: 9, 2; 


18: 5, 2 


Popularity- 

18: 8, 5; 


-7: 4, 22; 
18: 8, 7; 


18: 8, 4 
18: 8, 11 


18: 8, 12, 


18: 8, 15. 





Popularizer — 8: 11, 11. 

Position— 14: 8, 21; 16: 6, 1. 

Possibility— 16: 2, 22. 

Power— 4: 1, 25; 5: 11, 5; 5: 
11, 12; 5: 11, 20; 5: 11, 23: 
5: 11, 24; 10: 3, 10; 11: 1, 5; 
11: 3, 20; 11: 4, 23; 14: 7, 



13; 15: 6, 17; 16 

8, 13. 
Praise — 7: 2, 16; 8: 
Precision — 4: 10, 17. 
Precocity — 2: 
Prejudice — 9: 
Preparation- 

2; 14: 1, £ 



6, 9; 18: 



12, 14. 



1, 18. 
12, 23. 
-14: 1, 1; 14: 
; 14: 1, 7; 14: 

9; 14: 1, 12; 14: 1, 15; 

1, 16; 14: 1, 19; 14: 1, 

14: 1, 21; 14: 1, 26. 
Present, The — 14: 12, 1; 

12, 7; 14: 12, 13; 14: 12, 

14: 12, 16; 14: 12, 18; 

12, 19; 14: 12, 20; 14: 12, 

14: 12, 24. 
Pretense— 5: 10, 12. 
Pride— 8: 7, 12; 9: 9, 1; 9: 

3; 9: 9, 4; 9; 9, 5; 9; 9, 

9: 9, 7; 9: 9, 8; 9: 9, 9; 

9, 10; 9: 9, 11; 9: 9, 12; 

9, 13: 9: 9, 14; 9: 9, 15. 
Principle— 4: 1, 20; 4: 3, 

5: 8, 1; 5: 8, 2; 5: 8, 

5: 10, 24; 8: 11, 20. 
Prize— 5: 11. 22. 
Procrastination — 3: 6, 1; 3: 

2; 3: 6, 3; 3: 6, 4; 3: 6, 

3: 6, 6; 3: 6, 7; 3: 6, 9; 

6, 11; 3: 6, 12; 3: 6, 13; 

6, 14; 3: 6, 18; 3: 6, 21; 

6, 22; 3: 6, 25. 
Production— 14: 11, 21. 
Profanity— 9: 10, 18. 
Progress— 7: 10, 3; 8: 10, 

11: 9, 2; 11: 9, 6; 11: 9, 
11: 9, 17; 11: 9, 18; 11: 
20; 11: 9, 24; 13: 10, 25; 

7, 15. 

Promptness — 3: 5, 1; 3: 

3: 5, 3; 3: 5, 4; 3: 5, 

5, 6; 3: 5, 7; 3: 5, 8; 

9; 3: 5, 10; 3: 5, 11; 

12; 3: 5, 13; 3: 5, 1.5; 

16; 3: 5, 17; 3: 5, 18; 

20; 3: 5, 22; 3: 5, 23; 

24; 3: 5, 25; 3: 5, 26; 

1, 7; 15: 1, 27; 3: 5, 14 
Propensity — 8: 1, 17. 



1, 

1, 

14: 

20; 

14 
15 

14 
21 



14 



5, 


2; 


5; 


3: 


3: 


5, 


3: 


5, 


3 


5, 


3: 


5, 


3: 


5. 


1 


15: 



405 



Property— 10: 3, 16. 

Propriety— 6: 5, 14; 6: 5, 18. 

Prosperity— 7 : 8, 3; 18: 6, 1; 
18: 6, 3; 18: 6, 5; 18: 6, 8; 
18: 6, 9; 18: 6, 10; 18: 6, 11; 
18: 6, 12; 18: 6, 13; 18: 6, 
14; 18: 6, 15; 18: 6, 16; 18: 
6, 17; 18: 6, 18; 18: 6, 19; 
18: 6, 20; 18: 6, 21. 

Prudence— 4: 3, 2; 4: 3, 3; 4: 
3, 5; 4: 3, 6; 4: 3, 7; 4: 3, 
8; 4: 3, 9; 4: 3, 10; 4: 3, 12; 
4: 3, 13; 4: 3, 14; 4: 3, 15; 
4: 3, 16; 4: 3, 18; 4: 3, 23; 
4: 3, 24; 4: 3, 25; 4: 3, 26; 
4: 3, 28; 4: 6, 29. 

Purity— 4: 7, 1; 4: 7, 2; 4: 7, 
3; 4: 7, 4; 4: 7, 8; 4: 7, 9; 
4: 7, 11; 4: 7, 12; 4: 7, 13; 
4: 7, 15; 4: 7, 16; 4: 7, 17; 
4: 7, 19; 4: 7, 20; 4: 7, 21; 
4: 7, 23; 4: 7, 24; 4: 7, 27; 
4: 9, 25; 17: 11, 26. 

Punctuality — 5: 9, 7. 

Punishment — 2: 2. 7. 

Purpose— 14: 3, 2; 14: 3, 3 
14: 3, 4; 14: 3, 5; 14: 3, 6 
14: 3, 7; 14: 3, 8; 14: 3, 9 
14: 3, 11; 14: 3, 12; 14: c 
15; 14: 3, 17; 14: 3, 19; 14 
3, 20; 14: 3, 21; 14: 3, 22 
14: 3, 23. 

Quality— 16: 9, 19. 

Quarrels — 4: 8, 27. 

Radiation — 12: 5, 15. 

Rage— 4: 8, 8; 4: 8, 28. 

Rashness — 13: 9, 8; 17: 1, 11. 

Reaction— 10: 11, 1; 10: 11, 3; 
10: 11, 4; 10: 11, 5; 10: 11, 
6; 10: 11, 8; 10: 11, 9; 10: 
11, 10; 10: 11, 11; 10: 11, 12; 
10: 11, 13; 10: 11, 14; 10: 
11, 15; 10: 11, 16; 10: 11, 
17; 10: 11, 18; 10: 11, 19; 
10: 11, 20; 10: 11, 21: 10: 
11, 22; 10: 11, 24; 10: 11, 25; 
10: 11, 26; 10: 11, 27. 
Reading— 11: 6, 22; 12: 6, 7; 
12: 6, 9; 12: 6, 10; 12: 6, 13; 



12: 6, 14; 12: 6, 15; 12: 6 
21; 12: 7. 31. 

Reality— 5: 2, 12; 5: 10, 11. 

Reason— 4: 8, 1; 11: 5, 19; 12 
5, 1; 12: 5, 2; 12: 5, 3; 12 
5, 4; 12: 5, 6; 12: 5, 7; 12 
5, 8; 12: 5, 9; 12: 5, 10; 12 
5, 11; 12: 5, 12. 

Reciprocity — 7: 9, 7; 7: 9, 10; 
7: 9, 17. 

Recreation — 10: 10, 15; 17: 10, 
6. 

Rectitude— 5: 6, 1; 5: 9, 24. 

Refinement— 6: 6, 8; 6: 6, 17; 
6: 6, 18; 10: 9. 12. 

Reflection— 12: 7, 1; 12: 7, 3; 
12: 7, 4; 12: 7, 10; 12: 7, 15; 
12: 7, 19; 12: 7, 21; 12: 7, 
23. 

Reform— 7: 3, 1; 7: 3, 2; 7: 3, 
3; 7: 3, 4; 7: 3, 5; 7: 3, 6 
7: 3. 7: 7: 3, 8; 7: 3, 9; 7 
3, 10; 7: 3, 11; 7: 3, 12; 7 
3, 13; 7: 3, 14; 7: 3, 15; 7 
3, 16; 7: 3, 17; 7: 3, 18; 7 
3, 19; 7: 3, 20; 7: 3, 21: 7 
3, 22; 7: 10, 3. 

Regularity — 10: 2, 5. 

Reliableness — 5: 8, 18. 

Religion— 6: 1,1; 12: 2, 18 
18: 12, 1; 18: 12, 2; 18: 12 
3; 18: 12, 4; 18: 12, 5; 18 
12, 6; 18: 12, 7; 18: 12, 8; 18 
12, 9; 18: 12, 10; 18: 12, 11 
18: 12, 13; 18: 12, 14; 18 
12, 16; 18: 12, 17; 18: 12, 
18. 

Reputation— 4: 4, 11; IS: 7, 1; 
18: 7, 2; 18: 7, 3; 18: 7, 4; 
18: 7, 5; 18: 7, 6; 18: 7, 7; 
18: 7, 8; 18: 7, 9; 18: 7, 10: 
18: 7, 11; 18: 7, 12; 18: 7, 
13; 18: 7, 14; 18: 7, 15; 18: 
7, 16; 18: 7, 17; 18: 7, 18; 
18: 7, 19; 18: 7, 20; 18: 7. 
21; 18: 7, 22; 18: 7, 23; 18: 
7, 24; 18: 7, 25; 18: 7, 26; 
18: 7, 27: 18: 7. 28. 



406 



Resentment— 4 : 6, 30; 4: 8, 8; 
4: 8, 25; 4: 8, 26; 5: 10, 25 

Reserve— 14: 1, 23; 14: 1, 24; 
14: 1, 25; 15: 11, 14. 

Resolution— 13: 12, 1; 13: 12 
2; 13: 12, 3; 13: 12, 4; 13 
12, 5; 13: 12, 6; 13: 12, 7 
13: 12, 8; 13: 12, 9; 13: 12 
10; 13: 12, 11; 13: 12, 12 
13: 12, 13; 13: 12, 14; 13 
12, 15; 13: 12, 16; 13: 12, 17 
13: 12, 18; 13: 12, 19; 13: 12 
20; 13: 12, 24; 13: 12, 26 
13: 12, 27. 

Resources — 15: 1, 25. 

Respect— 5: 6, 14; 5: 6, 15; 5: 
6, 16; 7: 9, 5; 13: 3, 24. 

Responsibility— 5 : 11, 6; 8: 9, 
3; 11: 11, 3. 

Rest— 10: 10, 3; 10: 10, 9; 10: 
10, 11; 10: 10, 12; 10: 10, 
14; 10: 10, 18; 10: 10, 24; 
10: 10, 25; 10: 10, 26. 

Restraint— 6: 8, 10; 7: 9, 28. 

Revenge— 4: 8, 29; 7: 8, 17. 

Reverence — 5: 6, 17; 5: 6, 18; 
5: 6. 19. 

Riches— 6: 12, 22; 8: 3, 7; 10 
3, 6; 10: 3, 19; 10: 3, 23 
10: 3, 25; 10: 4, 2; 10: 4, 4 
10: 4, 8; 10: 4, 11; 10: 4, 12 
10: 4, 16. 

Ridicule— 7: 7, 25. 

Rights— 7: 8, 19; 10: 12, 2. 

Rules— 5: 9, 22. 

Sabbath, The— 1: 2, 10. 

Sacrifice— 3: 6, 26; 7: 10, 1 
7: 10, 4; 7: 10, 6; 7: 10, 7 
7: 10, 8; 7: 10, 9; 7: 10, 10 
7: 10, 12; 7: 10, 13; 7: 10 
22; 7: 10, 23; 7: 10, 24; 
6, 21. 

Safety— 6: 12. 13. 

Sagacity— 4: 3, 17. 

Salary— 16: 4, 5. 

Satiety— 10: 7, 5. 

Scandal— 9: 12, 27; 9: 12, 28; 
9: 12. 29. 

Scholarship — 6: 6, 14. 



Science— 11: 3, 23; 12: 5, 25. 


Scolding — 9: 7, 2. 


Scrutiny — 12: 7, 18. 


Self— 5: 4, 1; 5: 4, 2; 5: 4, 3; 


5: 4, 4; 5: 4, 5; 5: 4, 6; 5: 


4, 7; 5: 4, 8; 5: 4, 9; 5: 4, 


10 


5: 4, 11; 5: 4, 12; 5: 4 


13 


5: 4, 14; 5: 4, 15; 5: 4 


16 


5: 4, 17; 5: 4, 18; 5: 4 


19 


5: 4, 20; 5: 4, 21; 5: 4, 


22 


5: 4, 23; 5: 4, 24; 5: 4 


25 


5: 4, 26; 5: 4, 27; 5: 4, 


28 


8: 5, 19. 


Self -Control— 4: 2, 23; 5: 5, 1; 


5: 5, 2; 5: 5, 3; 5: 5, 4; 5: 


5, 5; 5: 5, 6; 5: 5, 7; 5: 5, 


8; 5: 5, 9; 5: 5, 10; 5: 5, 11; 


5: 5, 12; 5: 5, 13; 5: 5, 14; 


5: 5, 15; 5: 5, 16; 5: 5, 17; 


5: 5, 18; 5: 5, 19; 5: 5, 21; 


5: 5, 22; 8: 8, 3. 


Self -Culture— 12: 1, 1; 12: 1, 


2; 12: 1, 3; 12: 1, 4; 12: 1, 


5; 12: 1, 6; 12: 1, 7; 12: 1, 


9; 12: 1, 11; 12: 1, 12; 12: 


1, 


14; 12: 1, 15; 12: 1, 16; 



12: 1, 17; 12: 1, 18; 12: 1, 19: 
12, 1, 21. 

Self -Denial— 7 : 10, 14; 7: 10 
15; 7: 10, 17; 7: 10, 18. 

Self-indulgence — 4: 6, 6. 

Selfishness— 3: 4, 2; 3: 4, 3 

3: 4, 4; 3: 4, 5; 3: 4, 6; 3 
4, 7; 3: 4, 8; 3: 4, 9; 3: 4 

10; 3: 4, 11; 2: 4, 12; 3 



4, 14; 3: 4, 17; 3: 4, 18; 


3 


4, 21; 3: 4, 22; 7: 9, 2; 


7 


9, 18; 7: 9, 19; 7: 11, 19; 


9 


8, 18. 




Self-Government— 12: 2, 6. 




Self-Help— 5: 7, 13; 5: 7, 


14 


5: 7, 15; 5: 7, 17; 5: 7, 


18 


5: 7, 19; 5: 7, 21; 5: 7, 


22 


5: 1, 23. 




Self-Possession— 3: 3, 3. 




Self -Reliance — 5: 7, 1; 5: 7 


, 2 


5: 7, 3; 5: 7, 4; 5: 7, 5; 


5 


7, 6; 5: 7, 10; 5: 7, 11; 


5 


7, 12; 5: 7, 16; 5: 7, 24; 


5 



407 



7, 25; 5: 7, 26. 

Self -Respect— 5: 6, 1; 5: 6 
5: 6, 3; 5: 6, 4; 5: 6, 5; 
6, 6; 5: 6, 7; 5: 6, 8; 5 
9; 5: 6, 10; 5: 6, 11 
12; 5,: 6, 13; 9: 9, 17. 

Self- Seekers— 7: 10. 19. 

Sensitiveness — 4: 8, 23; 1 
14; 9; 5, 19; 9: 9, 19. 

Seriousness — 17: 5, 6. 

Sickness — 4: 6, 16. 

Silence— 7: 12, 2; 7: 12, 4 
12, 5; 7: 12, 9; 7: 12, 10 
12, 12; 7: 12, 13; 7: 12, 
7: 12, 17; 7: 12, 18; 7; 
21; 7: 12, 23; 7: 12, 24 
12, 26; 12: 2. 22. 

Simplicity — 6: 10, 1; 6 
6: 10, 3; 6: 10: 4; 6 
6: 10, 6; 6: 10, 7; 6 
6: 10, 9; 6: 10, 10; 6: 
6: 10, 12; 6: 10, 13; 
14; 6: 10, 15; 6 
10, 17; 6: 10, 18; 6 
6: 10, 20; 6: 10, 22 
23; 6: 10, 25; 6: 10, 26; 
10, 27; 7: 7, 15. 

Sin— 3: 1, 17; 3: 1, 18; 3: 
19; 9: 10, 5; 9: 10, 10; 
10, 22. 

Sincerity— 5: 10, 1; 5: 10, 
5: 10, 3; 5: 10, 4; 5: 10, 
5: 10, 18; 5: 10, 20; 5: 
22; 5: 10, 26. 

Singleness — 14: 4, 1; 14: 4, 
14: 4, 4; 14: 4, 5; 14: 4, 
14: 4, 7; 14: 4, 8; 14: 4, 
14: 4, 10; 14: 4, 11; 14: 
12; 14: 4, 13; 14: 4, 14; 
4, 15; 14: 4, 16; 14: 4, 
14: 4 19; 14: 4, 20; 14: 
22; 14: 4, 2. 

Society— 2: 2, 1; 4: 2, 4; 
2, 1; 6: 2, 2; 6: 2, 4; 6: 
6; 6: 2, 10; 6: 2, 11; 6: 
12; 6: 2, 13; 6: 2, 14; 6: 
15; 6: 2, 16; 6: 2, 18; 6: 
19; 6: 2, 20; 6: 2, 21; 6: 
23; 6:2, 24. 



5: 6, 



10, 
10, 
10, 
10, 
6: 

10, 16; 

6: 10, 
6: 



7 
7 
14 
12 
7 

2 
5 
8 

11 
10 

6 
19 
10 

6 

3, 

9: 

2; 
8; 
10, 



4; 



6, 20. 
: 5, 9; 



Soldiers — 8: 6, 26. 

Solitude — 7: 9, 3; 7: 9, 9. 

Solace — 17: 3, 23. 

Sorrow— 7: 5, 26; 17: 3, 1 
3, 2; 17: 3, 3; 17: 3, 
3, 6; 17: 3, 7; 17: 3, 
3, 10; 17: 3, 11; 17 
17: 3, 13; 17: 3, 15; 
17; 17: 3, 20; 17: 3, 21; 
3, 22; 17: 3, 24. 

Smiles— 10: 8, 10. 

Slander— 9: 10, 24. 

Slave — 17: 8, 8. 

Sloth— 15: 5, 11. 

Shame— 2: 12, 21. 

Shirk— 9: 6, 23; 

Shyness — 9: 5, 6; 
5, 10. 

Speech — 11: 4, 15 

Spirit— 8: 1, 9; 8 
18. 

Standard— 8: 4, 6. 

Start— 14: 2, 1; 14: 2, 2; 
2, 3; 14: 2, 4; 14: 2, 5; 
2, 6; 14: 2, 10; 14: 2, 
14: 2, 12; 14: 2, 14; 14 
15; 14: 2, 16; 14: 2, 17; 
2, 18; 14: 2, 19; 14: 2, 
14: 2, 22; 14: 2, 23; 14 
17. 

State, The— 10: 12, 11. 

Steadfastness — 5: 9, 20; 5 
21. 

Stimulation— 9 : 2, 23; 9 

Stinginess — 9: 8, 17. 

Strength— 5: 1, 4; 5: 1, 9; 
11, 2; 5: 11, 3; 5: 11, 4; 
11, 6; 5: 11, 7; 5: 11, 8; 
11, 9; 5: 11, 10; 5: 11, 
5: 11, 13; 5: 11, 14; 5: 
15; 5: 11, 16; 5: 11, 18; 
11, 19; 5: 11, 21; 5: 11, 
9: 1, 11; 10: 2, 18; 11 
21; 11: 1, 5. 

Striving— 13: 10, 21. 

Study— 12: 4, 2; 12: 4, 12; 



17 
17 

; 17 

3, 12; 

17: 3, 

17: 



9: 



1, 16; 8: 1, 



14: 

14: 

11; 

2, 

14: 

20; 
9, 



2, 25. 

5 
5 

5 

11; 
11 

5: 

25 

2 



9, 1 
9, 4 
9, 7 



12: 9, 2; 12: 9, 3; 
12: 9, 5; 12: 9, 6 
12: 9, 8; 12: 9, 9 



408 



9, 10; 12: 9, 11; 12: 9, 12; 
12: 9, 13; 12: 9, 14; 12: 9, 
15; 12: 9, 16; 12: 9, 17; 12: 
9, 18; 12: 9, 19; 12: 9, 20; 
14: 1, 14. 

Stumbling, Blocks — 14: 9, 19. 

Sublimity— 6 : 10, 9. 

Subtlety— 9: 11, 3. 

Success— 3: 2, 10; 4: 4, 20; 5 
12, 13; 7: 9, 26; 8: 2, 2 
10: 4, 18; 10: 6, 2; 9: 4, 4 
9: 12, 16; 11: 2, 18; 12: 3 
14; 12: 7, 6; 12: 6, 17; 13 

7, 13; 13: 8, 6; 13: 9: 15; 13 
9, 16; 13: 12, 25; 14: 4, 21 
14: 10, 10; 14: 11, 13; 14 
11, 14; 14: 11, 16; 14: 12 
22; 14: 9, 7; 15: 5, 22; 15 

8, 10; 16: 2, 12; 16: 5, 6 
16: 6, 14; 16: 8, 2; 16: 9, 11 
16: 11, 1; 16: 11, 3; 16: 11 
4; 16: 11, 5; 16: 11, 6; 16 
11, 7; 16: 11, 8; 16: 11, 9 
16: 11, 10; 16: 11, 11; 16 
11, 12; 16: 11, 13; 16: 11 
14; 16: 11, 15; 16: 11, 16 
16: 11, 17; 16: 11, 18; 16 
11, 19; 16: 11, 20; 16: 12, 
4. 

Suggestions — 13: 6, 5. 
Superstition — 18: 12, 15. 
Surliness — 6: 11, 17. 
Surroundings — 6: 6, 5; 16: 6, 

2; 16: 6, 3; 16: 6, 5; 16: 6, 

6; 16: 6, 7; 16: 6, 8; 16: 6, 

10; 16: 6, 11; 16: 6, 12; 16: 

6, 15. 
Suspicion— 7: 8, 4; 7: 12, 22; 

9: 11, 14; 9: 11, 24; 9: 11, 

30; 9: 12, 24. 
Sympathy— 6: 7, 4; 7: 11, 1; 

7: 11, 2; 7: 11, 3; 7: 11, 4; 

7: 11, 5; 7: 11, 6; 7: 11, 7; 

7: 11, 8; 7: 11, 9; 7: 11, 10; 

7: 11, 11; 7: 11, 14; 7: 11, 

15; 7: 11, 16; 7: 11, 17; 7: 

11, 18. 
System— 15: 1, 16; 15: 1, 24. 
Tact— 7: 8, 23; 11: 3, 16; 12: 

11, 1; 12: 11, 2; 12: 11, 3; 

12: 11, 4; 12: 11, 5; 12: 11, 



6; 12: 11, 7; 12: 11, 8; 12: 
11, 9; 12: 11, 10; 12: 11, 11; 
12: 11, 12; 12: 11, 13; 12: 11, 



14; 12: 11, 15; 12: 11, 
12: 11, 17; 12: 11, 18; 
11, 19. 
Talent— 4: 3, 13; 11: 7, 12; 
11, 13; 16: 8, 1; 16: S 



16 

12 

12 
3 

16: 8, 4; 16: 8, 5; 16: 8, 6 
16: 8, 7; 16: 8, 9; 16: 8, 11 
16: 8, 12; 16: 8, 14; 16: S 
15; 16: 8, 16; 16: 8, 17; 16 
8, 18; 16: 8, 19; 16: 8, 20 
16: 8, 21; 16: 8, 22; 16: S 
23; 16: 8, 24; 16: 8, 26; 16 
8, 27; 16: 8, 29. 

Talkativeness — 7 : 12 
12, 25. 

Tardiness — 3: 5, 19. 

Taste— 6: 6, 25. 

Teacher — 2: 1, 15. 

Temper — 3: 3, 11; 4 
8, 15; 4: 8, 16; 4 
8, 18: 4: 8, 19; 4 
8, 21; 4: 8, 22; 8 
7, 12. 

Temperance — 4: 2, 22; 4: € 
2; 4: 6, 3; 4: 6, 7; 4: 6, 8 
4: 6, 10; 4: 6, 11; 4: 6, 12 
4: 6, 14; 4: 6, 16; 4: 6, 18 
4: 6, 19; 4: 6, 21; 4: 6, 22 
4: 6, 23; 4: 6, 24; 4: 6, 26 
4: 6, 27; 4: 6, 29; 4: 6, 30 

Temptation — 7: 6 



20 



8, 14; 

8, 17; 

8, 20; 

9, 24; 



9: 1, 4 
9, 1; 17: 9, 4; 17: 9, 5 
9, 6; 17: 9, 8; 17: 9, 10 
9, 11; 17: 9, 12; 17: J 
17: 9, 15; 17: 9, 16; 17 



9, 17; 17: 9, 18; 17: 9, 19. 

Tenacity— 13: 12, 23; 14: 9, 14 

Tenderness — 4: 5, 17; 7: 8, 16: 
7: 8, 23. 

Thankfulness— 2: 6, 24; 8: 7 
3; 8: 7, 6; 8: 7, 7. 

Thought— 3: 3, 28; 4: 9, 1; 4: 
9 2; 4: 9, 3; 4: 9, 4; 4: 9 
5; 4: 9, 6; 4: 9, 7; 4: 9, 8 
4: 9, 10; 4: 9, 11; 4: 9, 12 
4- 9, 13; 4: 9, 14; 4: 9, 15 
4: 9, 16; 4: 9, 17; 4: 9, 18 
4- 9, 19; 4: 9, 22; 4: 9, 23 



409 



4: 9, 24; 4: 9, 26; 4: 10, 
7: 12, 11; 11: 6, 17; 12: 7, 
12: 7, 3; 12: 7, 5; 12: 7, 
12: 7, 8; 12: 7, 11; 12: 
12; 12: 7, 13; 12: 7, 16; 
7, 17; 12: 7, 20; 12: 7, 
12: 10, 16. 
Thoughtfulness — 3: 3, 1; 3: 
2; 3: 3, 4; 3: 3, 5; 3:3, 
3: 3, 9; 3: 3, 10; 



3, : 

12; 
16; 
22; 
25; 



3: 3, 13; 

3: 3, 17; 

3: 3, 23; ! 

3: 3, 26; 
3, 31. 
Thoroughness — 15 : 
3; 15: 7, 4; 15: 
6; 15: 7, 7; 15: 
9; 15: 7, 10; 15 



3, 15; 
3, 20; 
3, 24; 

3, 27 



7, 2; 

5; 



15 

7, 5; 15 

7, 8; 15 

7, 11; 



7, 12; 15: 7, 13; 15: 7, 

15: 7, 15; 15: 7, 16; 15 

17; 15: 7, 19; 15: 7, 20; 

7, 21; 15: 7, 22. 
Thrift— 9: 8, 7; 15: 10, 12; 

10, 13; 18: 6, 4; 18: 6, 17 
Thriftlessness — 4: 3, 27. 
Time— 10: 10, 2; 13: 7, 3; 

6, 1; 14: 6, 2; 14: 6, 3; 

6, 4; 14: 6, 5; 14: 6, 7; 

6, 12; 14: 6, 13; 14: 6, 

14: 6, 15; 14: 6, 17; 14 

19; 14: 6, 23. 
Timidity — 9: 1, 7; 9: 5, 1; 

5, 5; 9: 5, 7; 9: 5, 8. 
Today— 14: 12, 2; 14: 12, 

14: 12, 10; 14: 12, 11; 

12; 14: 12, 25. 
Toilet— 6: 9, 20. 
Toleration — 7: 8, 18. 
Tomorrow — 14 : 12, 3. 
Tongue', The — 7: 12, 7. 
Training— 2: 2, 9; 2: 2 

10, 19; 5: 12, 15; 5: 

5: 12, 17; 5: 12, 18; 

19; 5: 12, 20; 5: 12, 21; 

12, 22; 5: 12, 23; 5: 12, 

12: 7, 30. 
Traitor— 8: 6, 14; 9: 5, 12 
Transgressor — 9: 1, 12. 
Travel— 12: 4, 19. 
Trial— 17: 3, 19. 



14: 



11; 

12, 
5: 



15; 
2; 

7; 

7, 

12: 

22; 



Trifle— 3: 1, 3; 3: 1, 5; 3: 1 
8; 3: 1, 21; 3: 1, 23; 8: 12 
17; 17: 7, 8; 17: 8, 5. 

Trouble— 14: 12, 23; 17: 1, 22 

Trust— 13: 10, 15. 

Truth— 4: 2, 23; 5:1, 16 
1; 5: 2, 2; 5: 2, 3; 5 
5: 2, 5; 5: 2, 6; 5: 2 
2, 8; 5: 2, 9; 5: 2, 10; 



5: 2, 

2, 4; 
7; 5, 
5: 2, 



5: 2, 12; 

5: 2, 15; 

5: 2, 20; 

5: 2, 26; 

8: 11, 7; 



11 
14 
17 
25 
4; 
21. 
Uncertainty — 17 : 8 
2; 17: 8, 4; 17: 
9; 17: 8 10; 17: 
8, 12; 17: 8, 13; 
17: 8, 15; 17: 8, 
17; 17: 8, 19; 17 



5: 2, 13; 5: 2, 



5: 2, 16; 

5: 2, 24; 
5: 2, 27: 



12, 4; 13: 3, 

I, 1; 17: 8, 
8, 7; 17: 8, 
: 8, 11; 17: 
; 17: 8, 14; 
!, 16; 17: 8, 
8, 21; 17: 



8, 22; 
17: 8, 



17: 8, 23; 17: 8, 25: 
26; 17: 8, 6. 



7, 25. 

5: 9, 13; 5: 

7, 8; 6: 7, 

: 3, 30; 3: 

3: 4, 20; 9: 



16 



Uncleanness — 4 
Unfaithfulness- 

14. 
Unkindness — 6 : 
Unselfishness — 

13; 3: 4, 19; 

10; 9: 8, 18. 
Use— 7: 10, 2; 14: 11, 4 

3, 1; 16: 3, 30. 
Usefulness— 16: 3, 2; 

16: 3, 5; 16: 3, 6; 

16: 3, 9: 16: 3, 10; 

16: 3, 12; 16: 3, 

15; 16: 3, 16; 16: 

3, 18; 16: 3, 19; 

16: 3, 22; 16: 3, : 

24; 16: 3, 25; 16: 

3, 28; 16: 3, 29. 
Usurpation— 5 : 10, 21. 
Vacation— 10: 10, 23. 
Vanity— 9: 9, 16; 9: 9, 18; 9: 

9, 21; 9: 9, 24; 9: 9, 25; 9: 

9, 26; 9: 9, 27; 9: 9, 28. 
Variety— 10: 10, 17; 10: 10, 19. 
Vascillation— 9: 6, 19; 14: 9, 

16. 
Veracity— 5: 2, 23. 
Versatility— 10: 2, 22. 



16: 3 


3; 


16: 3 


8; 


16: 3, 


11; 


13; 16 


3 


3, 17; 


16: 


16: 3, 


20; 


23; 16 


3 


3, 26; 


16: 



4io 



Vexation— 4: 8, 24. 

Vice— 2: 6, 8; 4: 2, 14; 4: 11, 

4; 9: 1, 10; 9: 10, 16; 9: 10, 

28; 10: 11, 2. 
Victory— 14: 11, 17. 
Villain— 9: 10, 13. 
Virtue— 4: 2, 1; 4: 2, 5; 4: 2, 



6; 4: 2, 7; 4: 2, 



4: 2, 10; 

4: 2, 13; 

4: 2, 16; 

4: '2; 19; 

4: 2, 22; 

4: 3, 15; 

4: 6, 8; 



2, 11; 
2, 14; 
2, 17; 
2, 20; 
2, 23; 
4: 5, 8; 
4: 7, 4; 4 



4: 2, 9 
4: 2, 12 
4: 2, 15 
4: 2, 18 
4: 2, 21 
4: 3, 5 
4: 6, 1 
7, 6; 4 
4 



7, 7; 4: 7, 10; 4: 7, 18 
11, 17; 5: 6, 5; 6: 2, 8; 8 
5, 9; 8: 9, 26; 11: 5, 2; 11 
5, 14. 

Vocation— 16: 4, 2; 16: 4, 6; 
16: 4, 9; 16: 4, 11; 16: 4, 12; 
16: 4, 14; 16: 4, 15; 16: 4, 
16; 16: 4, 17; 16: 4, 18. 

Want— 9: 3, 2; 10: 7, 5; 16: 
1, 8. 

Weakness— 5: 5, 20; 5: 7, 8; 
5: 11, 7; 9: 1, 1; 9: 1, 2; 9: 

1, 5; 9: 1, 6; 9: 1, 7; 9: 1, 
8; 9: 1, 11; 9: 1, 13; 9: 1, 
14; 9: 1, 15; 9: 1, 16; 10: 

2, 8. 

Wealth— 5: 11, 9; 8: 3, 9; 8 

3, 13; 8: 6, 24; 8: 11, 18 
10: 3, 1; 10: 3, 2; 10: 3, 3 
10: 3, 4; 10: 3, 5; 10: 3, 8 
10: 3, 9; 10: 3, 12; 10, 3, 13 
10: 3, 14; 10: 3, 15; 10: 3 
17; 10: 3, 21; 10: 4, 5; 10 

4, 9; 10: 4, 10; 10: 4, 13 
18: 5, 2; 18: 5, 12. 

Wickedness— 8: 11, 17. 

Will— 4: 10, 22; 8: 2, 18; 8: 4, 
12; 9: 1, 20; 10: 2, 6; 14 
10, 1; 14: 10, 2; 14: 10, 3 
14: 10, 4; 14: 10, 5; 14: 10 
6; 14: 10, 7; 14: 10, 8; 14 
10, 9; 14: 10, 11; 14: 10, 13 
14: 10, 18; 14: 10, 19; 14: 10 



20; 14: 10, 22; 14: 10, 23 
14: 11, 8. 14: 10, 14; 14: 10 
15; 14: 10, 16; 14: 10, 17 
Wisdom — 4: 3, 2; 4: 3, 9; 4 
3, 11; 8: 4, 21; 10, 4, 7; 11 
5, 1; 11: 5, 2; 11: 5, 3; 11 
5, 4; 11: 5, 5; 11: 5, 6; 11 
5, 8; 11: 5, 9; 11: 5, 10; 11 

5, 11; 11: 5, 13; 11: 5, 14 
11: 5, 15; 11: 5, 16; 11: 5 
18; 11: 5, 19; 11: 5, 20; 11 

6, 3. 



Wishes- 



Wit— 4: 3, 14; 

9. 
Wrath— 4: 8, 
Woman — 4 : 5, 



14: 5, 22. 

6: 7, 21: 



11: 11, 



7, 14 

2 



10; 4: 7, 9; 4 
5: 4, 5; 6: 2, 16; 6: 4 



6: 4, 6; 6: 4, 9; 
4, 19; 6: 4, 20; 

6: 4, 26; 

18: 1, 17; 

18: 2, 2; 
18: 2, 6; 



6: 4, 12 
6: 4, 22 
7: 6, 20 
18: 1, 20 
18: 2, 4 
18: 2, 8 



4: 25; 
3, 21; 
2, 1; 
2, 5; 

2, 9; 18: 2, 10; 18: 2. 11 
2, 12; 18: 2, 13; 18: 2 
18: 2, 15. 
Words— 7: 12, 16. 
Work— 10: 10, 7; 14: 1, 14; 15 
1, 20; 16: 1, 3; 16: 1, 6; 16 
1, 15; 16: 1, 20; 16: 1, 21 
16: 1, 22; 16: 3, 7; 17: 10, 
19; 17: 10, 20; 17: 10, 21. 
World— 3: 2, 25; 4: 1, 1; 8: 2, 

12. 
Worry— 9: 4, 1 ; 9: 4, 2; 9:4, 
3; 9: 4, 5; 9: 4. 6: 9: 4, 
9: 4, 8; 9: 4, 9; 
4, 11; 9: 4, 13; 
4, 15; 9: 4, 18; 
4, 20; 9: 4, 22; 
Worship— 1: 2, 4. 
Worth— 8: 4, 4. 
Youth— 2: 1, 15; 2 
3; 10: 2, 13; 11 
6, 22; 17: 9, 7. 
Zeal— 4: 3, 21; lb: 8, 22. 



9: 4, 2; 
4, 6; 9 
; 9: 4, 10; 

9. 4, 14; 

9: 4, 19; 

9: 4, 23. 



1, 17; 
6, 26; 



14 



iflC 



BWiW 



H? RARY 0F CONGRESS 






022 208 265 1 



